Of Emeralds and Demons
by RichaCo
Summary: A freak chaos control accident lands Sonic and co. in Feudal Japan! What will happen when they meet a hanyou named Inuyasha? Rated for language and some crude humor
1. Default Chapter

YES! Another fic! Damn, I'm good! Anyway, this is only my second crossover and it is also the first time that I am trying to write about a few of the characters in this fic. So, forgive me if anyone is OOC. I just hope that someone will actually read this story. PLEASE! Okay, enough begging. ON WITH THE STORY!  
  
Of Emeralds And Demons  
  
Chapter 1: What's been happening and what will be  
  
It has been nearly a year after the defeat of Metal Sonic aboard Eggman's air fleet. Since then, things have been pretty quiet. Sonic and Shadow now share an apartment in Station Square and are still competing to see which one of them is the superior even though they are friends.  
  
Tails still lives in his workshop at the Mystic Ruins, working on his numerous inventions.  
  
Rouge gave up treasure hunting for the time being and is making a good living on Angel Island with Knuckles, who is still guarding the master emerald.  
  
Tikal and Chaos are now living on the outside of the emerald on Angel Island as well and so far, they couldn't be happier.  
  
Big is still living near the mystic ruins in his house, fishing with Froggy by his side.  
  
Omega is no longer starved for revenge and basically goes where he pleases. But he never goes beyond the Mystic Ruins.  
  
Espio, Charmy, and Vector are still in the detective business. But, it has bee pretty slow lately.  
  
Amy is still living in her apartment in Station Square and is still trying to get Sonic to marry her. Cream the rabbit and Cheese the chao are new sharing her apartment with her.  
  
As for Dr. Eggman, he grew tired of his plans always failing and gave up on world domination. He now seeks to better mankind in any way possible.  
  
Anyway, the story begins on Angel Island one normal day...  
  
Tikal sat on top of a stone that overlooked the emerald shrine with her legs crossed, the breeze ruffling her dress a little. She sighed. "I'm bored."  
  
She was about to jump down when she saw none other than her friend, Chaos. Chaos sure had changed over the years. It was hard to believe that this gentle water demon with a heart of gold had leveled half of the city a while back. Chaos waved at her and beckoned her down from her sitting position to the ground.  
  
She slid off of the stone and landed in front of Chaos. She gave a polite wave which her readily returned. "Hello, Chaos. What's wrong?"  
  
Chaos sighed. Over the time he had spent with Tikal and her friends, her had learned how to speak English quite well. "It's Knuckles and Rouge again."  
  
Tikal sighed again. Ever since Rouge had decided to come and live on this island, Knuckles and her had been fighting constantly.  
  
"Where are they and what is it this time?" she asked her liquid friend.  
  
Chaos pointed one hand towards a clump of trees and stated, "Over there, by the lake. Knuckles accused Rouge of trying to steal the master emerald again."  
  
Tikal shook her head as she began walking towards the spot where Rouge and Knuckles were fighting. "This is the fifth time this week."  
  
Chaos nodded. "I know. And the sad part is, it's only Monday."  
  
******  
  
Knuckles stared defiantly at Rouge. "Would you stop denying it already? I know that you were trying to get at the emerald again!"  
  
Rouge put her hands on her hips. "God damn it, Knucklehead! I already told you that I wasn't going to take it. You already made me promise about a thousand times not to take it when you let me on the island!"  
  
This was nothing out of the ordinary. First, the argument would start and either a fist fight would break out between them, or Tikal and Chaos would come and break it up. Luckily for both their health's sake, this time it was the latter.  
  
Tikal and Chaos stumbled into the clearing where they were just in time to hear Rouge defending herself. Tikal walked in between Rouge and Knuckles, extending her arms to keep them from getting any closer to strangling each other. "Guys, knock it off. Knuckles, she already promised that she wouldn't try and take the emerald."  
  
Then, Chaos looked at Rouge. "As for you, Rouge, I think that you should watch your language."  
  
Knuckles and Rouge looked at each other. Then, Knuckles scoffed. "Fine. But if you do come anywhere near the emerald, I'm not gonna let Tikal and Chaos talk me out of tying your wings together and throwing you off the edge of the island."  
  
Rouge turned away. "I'd like to see you try!"  
  
Everyone was about to go back to their regular tasks when Tikal clutched her head and fell to the ground.  
  
Everyone rushed to her side and Chaos bent down and helped her to her feet. "What's wrong, Tikal?" asked Knuckles.  
  
Tikal was still clutching her head as she said, "Something is wrong with the master emerald."  
  
No one needed any further motivation. Knuckles and rouge were off in an instant and Chaos picked up Tikal, carrying her bridal style.  
  
When they arrived, they discovered that Tikal had been correct. Something was indeed wrong with the emerald. It was glowing brightly and it was changing colors from green to red and back again.  
  
Knuckles knew that they wouldn't be able to figure this out on their own. "Rouge, you still have your cell phone, right?"  
  
Rouge nodded. Knuckles said, "Then call up Tails and tell him to get up her fast with whoever else will come!"  
  
Rouge nodded again and took out her phone. She dialed a few numbers and the dial tone began ringing.  
  
******  
  
Sonic and Shadow were down at Big's place. They were, as usual, having another race. Big was just watching, considering that it was his place they were racing at. The Chaotix detective agency was there as well to act as judges.  
  
Vector was going over the rules for the race. "Now remember, it is one full lap around the jungle. The first one back here is the winner."  
  
Sonic and Shadow nodded.  
  
Espio stood before them and so did Charmy, holding the flag that would signal them to star. Espio said, "One more thing. No shortcuts are allowed during this match. This is nothing but a friendly footrace. You are also not allowed to use chaos attacks either."  
  
Sonic looked toward Shadow. "Just be ready to lose, bud."  
  
Shadow nodded. "Of course. But, it is you who will be losing before this day is out."  
  
Charmy held the flag above his head. "On your mark, get set..."  
  
"Sonic!" shouted Tails.  
  
Sonic and everyone else looked up to see Tails, and Amy in the X-tornado and Cream, Cheese, and Eggman in his slightly modified Egg Walker.  
  
Sonic smirked. "Yo, Tails! What's up?"  
  
Shadow, however, was less hospitable. "This had better be important, Tails. We were about to start a race before your little intrusion."  
  
Amy jumped out of the plan and landed in front of Shadow. "Forget your stupid race! We just got a call from Rouge and it looks like something odd is going on with the master emerald!"  
  
The fact that she was right up in his face was enough to humble Shadow for the moment. He had learned through experience not to cross her.  
  
Vector hopped into one of the extra seats that Eggman had installed into his Egg Walker. "So, what exactly is going on up there?" he asked.  
  
Eggman turned to his former detective employee and said, "According to Rouge, it just suddenly started to change colors and glow. Add to it, my radars have picked up the seven chaos emeralds. They are moving on their own towards the master emerald."  
  
Just then, Omega emerged from the bushes. He approached Eggman's vehicle. "Disturbances were detected. Primary mission: find and stop disturbance."  
  
Eggman nodded, glad that he was back on good terms with the robot.  
  
Tails and Amy hopped back into the X-tornado. "With the Egg walker, the X- tornado, and Omega, we should have enough seats for everyone.  
  
Everyone else nodded. Even though Charmy was capable of flight, he couldn't keep up with the machines, no matter how hard he tried. He hopped onto one of the seats in the X-tornado. Espio joined Vector in the Egg Walker. Sonic and Shadow hopped onto Omega's shoulders.  
  
They were all about to take off when they heard someone say, "Wait for me!"  
  
They all turned to see Big running towards them. He now had Froggy on his head and he was carrying his lucky umbrella and fishing pole.  
  
Placing the umbrella into a strap on his back, he grabbed one of Omega's hand with his free one.  
  
Shadow looked at the oversized cat and then to Omega. "Omega, are you sure that you'll be able to lift him?" he asked.  
  
Omega answered, "Do not worry, Shadow. Censors indicate that total carrying wheight is only 784.94 lbs. I am capable of lifting up to twenty-five hundred pounds."  
  
Shadow nodded. Then, everyone took off.  
  
******  
  
After about ten minutes of flying, they reached the Angel Island. They all landed near the emerald shrine.  
  
Everyone except for Eggman got out of the vehicles. Instead, he switched it to mech mode and took it toward the emerald.  
  
Sonic and Shadow were the first to reach the point where Knuckles, Rouge, Chaos, and Tikal were standing.  
  
Sonic looked toward the emerald to see that Rouge was not exaggerating when she had said that something strange was happening to the emerald. "You guys sure weren't kidding about that emerald."  
  
Cream, with Cheese in her arms, approached Chaos. "Mr. Chaos, what's going on?" she asked.  
  
Chaos looked down at the child with soft eyes. "We are not sure. But I hope that it is nothing serious."  
  
Tails and Eggman came up from the rear. "What is going on?" asked Tails.  
  
Omega answered, "It seems that there is a huge flux of energy coming from the emerald."  
  
Eggman nodded. "And to make matters worse, the chaos emeralds will be here at any moment!"  
  
Big looked at the emerald in fasenation before commenting, "Wow, it sure is pretty."  
  
After that, just as Eggman had predicted, the chaos emeralds landed and set themselves down near the master emerald. The energy increased from there and it looked as if it was going to blow.  
  
Sonic turned to address everyone. "Guys, we need to get out of here!" he shouted.  
  
No sooner had he said that then the glowing ceased and exploded. Everyone saw nothing but that white flash, and then, all they knew was darkness.  
  
******  
  
Meanwhile, in feudal japan, Kagome felt a huge burst of energy. "Inuyasha."  
  
The half demon known as Inuyasha turned and looked at the human girl. "What is it now, Kagome?" he asked, agrivated.  
  
"I just felt a big blast of energy over by those mountains."  
  
The lecherous monk, Miroku nodded. "Maybe it is another shard of the Shikon jewel."  
  
Sango the demon exterminator nodded in response. "That seems reasonable."  
  
Shippo, the Kitsune said, "Well, let's go and check it out!"  
  
Inuyasha said, "Feh! Fine. But if this turns out to be nothing but a wild goose chase, there's gonna be hell to pay!"  
  
The small group veered off their original course towards the odd burst of energy that had taken place, not knowing that they would find much more there than they expected.  
  
______________________________________________________  
  
Okay, there's the first chapter. Like it? Hate it? Tell me! Next chapter will be up soon, people. Until then, R/R! 


	2. An unfriendly meeting

I am back! I bring with me, a new chapter! I hope you all like it, and thanks to the five people who sent me reviews! I feel so loved. Anyway, enough emotions! ON WITH THE STORY!  
  
Chapter two: an unfriendly meeting  
  
Shadow was the first one to regain consciousness after the energy explosion. He looked around to see all of his friends on the ground, still knocked out. All of them were still breathing, which was a good sign.  
  
After he made sure that no one was missing, he looked around. His first thoughts were, 'I have a feeling we're not on Mobious anymore.  
  
Moving with some slight difficulty, Shadow crawled over to Sonic and shook him gently. Sonic responded by moaning and rolling over. Shadow shook him again, a bit harder this time.  
  
This time, Sonic opened his eyes and said lazily, "Five more minutes, mom."  
  
Shadow shook his head as he helped his counterpart up. Sonic looked around and registered the situation as his mind unclouded. "Did anyone get the number of that taxi that hit me?" he asked.  
  
Once again, shadow sighed. "Sorry, I didn't get the number because I was busy getting knocked out by that giant blast of energy that the damn master emerald unleashed on me!"  
  
Sonic backed up a step at his friend's tone. "Geeze, bud, it was just a joke. Lighten up a bit."  
  
Shadow turned back to Chaos as he answered, "Sorry, Sonic, but it is a bit difficult for someone named Shadow to lighten up."  
  
Sonic sighed and walked up to Tails. Shaking him gently, Sonic tried to get the young fox up.  
  
Shadow had no trouble at all getting Chaos up. The first words out of the water demon's mouth were, "Well, that was an odd experience."  
  
Then his eyes fell to Tikal. He was horror-stricken to see what had happened. The leg of Eggman's Egg walker crushed her leg!  
  
Chaos wasted no time. Running over, he gave Eggman a big hit on the head with his heavy hand while shouting, "Wake up, you obese tinker, and get this machine off of Tikal's leg!"  
  
Eggman awoke to find an angry water demon wailing on him. He shielded his precious cranium and shouted, "Calm down, Chaos! I can't do a thing to help you or anyone else if I'm knocked unconscious again!"  
  
Chaos calmed down a bit and directed Eggman's attention to the tan-furred echidna that had her leg partially crushed under his machine. "Oh dear!" Eggman exclaimed. "I hope she is alright."  
  
Eggman reactivated his Egg walker and eased the foot off of Tikal's leg.  
  
As soon as it was off, Chaos rushed to her side and shook her gently. "Tikal! Tikal, are you all right?" he asked.  
  
Tikal groaned as her eyes fluttered open. "Don't worry, Chaos. I'm..."  
  
Before she finished her sentence, she noticed an unbearable pain in her left leg. Forgetting everything else, she let out a scream that rang through the mountains.  
  
******  
  
Miroku stopped in his tracks. "Did anyone besides me hear that?" he asked.  
  
Inuyasha nodded. "It was kind of hard not to hear it, monk."  
  
Sango looked towards the mountains that they were headed for. "It sounds like a young woman in pain."  
  
Kagome nodded. "We'd better hurry and get up there."  
  
Inuyasha lowered himself so she could climb on. As soon as she was secure on his back, he took off with Miroku, Sango, and Shippo not far behind on Kirara.  
  
******  
  
The scream that Tikal let out not only woke up Tails, who Sonic had tried unsuccessfully to awaken on his own, but also woke up Knuckles, Rouge, and Espio.  
  
Chaos held her close as she let tears of pain escape. Eggman looked on with the most sincerest look of regret on his face. "Tikal, I am so very sorry."  
  
Tikal shook her head. "It's not your fault, Eggman. I'll be okay."  
  
Espio looked at the leg closely. "Yes, you will heal eventually, but in the present, your leg is broken in three places and the ankle is dislocated from the foot. In other words, it will be a while before you can walk again."  
  
Tikal looked down at her leg. Knuckles approached her. "It's lucky for us that Rouge just happen to have a first aid kit with her."  
  
Knuckles and Rouge worked together (there's a rare sight) to bandage and splint the leg. She smiled and said softly, "Thank you."  
  
Just then, Omega appeared and offered her a makeshift crutch. "Here. This will allow you to balance while your left leg is healing. Estimated time to full recovery: Three weeks, four days, twenty-two hours, forty-seven minutes, and thirty-eight seconds."  
  
Rouge just stared at him. "Well, that was very precise."  
  
Knuckles looked over the robot to make sure that he was running on full capacity. Seeing no sign of injury, He said, "Omega, when did you wake up?"  
  
Omega looked back at his red friend. "Knuckles, robots are incapable of sleep. I was merely deactivated by the sudden rush of energy from the emerald."  
  
Then, it clicked. Knuckles began to look around frantically for the master emerald. "Where did it go?" he asked.  
  
Then, he looked at Rouge accusingly. She looked right back at him. "What? Are you thinking that I know where it is?"  
  
Knuckles nodded. "If the boot fits! How do I know that you're not just hiding it somewhere?"  
  
Rouge was getting angry. Everyone shook their heads. Tails said, "Here we go again. I don't think they'll ever get along."  
  
Rouge took a step towards Knuckles. "I don't know where your damn emerald is and I don't give a damn at all!"  
  
Knuckles took a step forward to match her. "I know your lying, Rouge! You know damn well where the emerald is and your gonna tell me where it is or there is going to be hell to pay!"  
  
Please, stop fighting!" someone shouted.  
  
They all turned to see Amy, Cream, Cheese, Froggy, and Big standing there, wide-awake. It was Cream who had spoken.  
  
Amy nodded. "She's right. It's not going to do us a single bit of good to fight amongst ourselves right now."  
  
Cheese nodded and gave a few squeaks of "Chao, chao!"  
  
Then, Big noticed something. "Hey, where is the little bee and the Big allidile?" he asked.  
  
Everyone then noticed that Charmy and Vector were missing. Just as they were going to start searching for them, they heard Vector shout, "Here we are!"  
  
Everyone looked over to the right to see Vector and Charmy walking, or flying if you prefer, towards them. Vector had in his arms, the master emerald.  
  
Vector set the massive jewel down in front of Knuckles. Knuckles checked it over to make sure that it was not damaged in any way then, using his bond with the emerald, shrunk it down to an ordinary emerald size.  
  
After picking it up, he turned to face Rouge again. "What?" she asked. "You found your gem and I had nothing to do with it."  
  
Knuckles sighed. "I'm sorry... for blaming you."  
  
Rouge was taken aback. This was only the second time that he had ever apologized to her. The last time was when they were fighting at meteor herd over the shards of the master emerald. He had said that he was sorry if he had hurt her in any way.  
  
She quickly gathered herself and said, "Fine, I'll forgive you this time. But, if you try to blame me again, I'll kick your ass!"  
  
Amy cleared her throat. "If you don't mind, could you all watch your language? There are a few children present, you know."  
  
Knuckles and Rouge turned their attention to Tails, Charmy, and Cream. They nodded.  
  
Tikal was now on her feet, trying her best to walk with the crutch. "Well, now that that little dilemma is solved, we can get back to the problem at hand: Where are we?"  
  
Eggman moved the Egg walker forward a step. "The question is, when are we? According to my automatic calendar that adjusts itself to the correct time and date wherever I go, we're in the warring states era of Japan!"  
  
"WHAT?!" everyone shouted. Tails calmed down first. "It seems logical to me. That big explosion caused by the master and chaos emeralds must have caused a rip in the time-space continuum and we were unfortunate enough to get sucked in."  
  
Shadow crossed his arms. "Yes, that would explain the sudden change in surroundings. But, I am sensing a big blast of chaos energy in seven different locations."  
  
Sonic nodded. "I feel it to. The chaos emeralds must have gotten transported to this time with us."  
  
Espio interrupted Sonic's train of thought. "What I am most concerned about is why did this happen. That blast of energy was not natural. Something or someone intentionally dragged us to this time."  
  
Everyone pondered this for a time when Omega said, "WARNING! Life forms approaching."  
  
Everyone turned to the direction that Omega was pointing. Sure enough, they were just in time to see a few people on a fiery cat jump out of the bushes.  
  
One of them had long silver hair and had dog-ears. He wore a baggy red kimono with red pants to match.  
  
Riding on his back was a young girl with raven black hair that seemed to be wearing a school uniform. On her back were a bow and a quiver of arrows.  
  
On the fire cat sat a young man with black, short hair. He carried a staff in one hand and his other was covered by a glove. He wore simple purple robes and a pair of sandals.  
  
Next to him was a young boy that looked no older than six. He had a strange green attire and his hair was held up by a ribbon. His feet looked like a fox's and so did the tail that he possessed.  
  
In front of them was another young lady. She also had long, black hair. Her outfit was black and tight-fitting. It covered her whole body. She carried what appeared to be a giant boomerang.  
  
They looked Sonic and his friends over very suspiciously.  
  
Sonic was the first one to speak. "Well? Did you come here to look at us all day or are you gonna say something?"  
  
The boy with silver hair seemed mildly surprised. "So, these demons can speak English, eh?"  
  
Shadow's eyes narrowed. "Whom are you calling a demon, dog-boy?" he asked.  
  
The boy growled.  
  
Omega stepped forward. The people seemed very surprised to see a person made of metal. Omega let out a few beeps and said, "Scan complete. Subjects identified as: Inuyasha, half-demon, Kagome, human school girl, Miroku, lecherous monk, Shippo, Kitsune pup, Sango, demon exterminator, and Kirara, fire-cat demon."  
  
Everyone stared at Omega. He had given them a bit of info on these people, but not enough to know what their intentions were.  
  
The one known as Inuyasha turned to Kagome. "Do they have any jewel shards in them?"  
  
Kagome shook her head.  
  
Inuyasha drew his giant sword and stepped forward. Sonic and his friends were pretty surprised to see a sword of that size here.  
  
Inuyasha stepped forward and brandished it threateningly at Chaos and Tikal. "Your going back to hell where you belong, demons."  
  
Chaos stepped in front of Tikal and held out his hands. "Leave Tikal out of this! She is injured and she is innocent of whatever crime you're accusing her of."  
  
Big stepped in front of Chaos. "It's not nice to tease my friends!" he said dumbly while brandishing his fishing pole.  
  
Miroku stepped up. "I'll deal with the oversized cat, Inuyasha."  
  
Big still held his fish pole at the ready as Miroku uncovered his arm. "WIND TUNNLE!" he shouted.  
  
A giant vacuum came from the monk's hand. Big still held his ground and did not seemed effected at all by the pull of the black hole.  
  
Miroku was flabbergasted. The only time anything failed to be pulled into his wind tunnel was when it was extremely heavy.  
  
Eggman lumbered forward. "I'll deal with this little annoyance." He pressed a button. A missile launched from his machine. The end of it looked like a giant cork. Before Miroku could react, the missile impacted with his hand and plugged up the wind tunnel!  
  
Miroku tried his hardest to get the missile out of his hand, but to no avail.  
  
Sango stepped forward with her giant boomerang at the ready. Vector moved to match her. "I'll deal with this broad."  
  
Shadow nodded and said, "I shall assist you."  
  
Knuckles stepped up as well. "I'll help out to.  
  
Shippo moved until he was facing Amy, Charmy, Cream, Cheese, and Tails. "I'll take you all on!" he shouted.  
  
Charm brandished his stinger. "Okay, kid. It's your funeral."  
  
Big and Eggman were getting ready to take on a now wind tunnel-less Miroku with the help of Rouge.  
  
Sonic, Espio, and omega were ready to take on Inuyasha himself.  
  
Chaos and Tikal found themselves face to face with Kagome.  
  
They all stared at each other, ready to make a move if it bee needed. One can only wonder what the outcome of this battle would be.  
  
_____________________________________________________________  
  
WOOHOO! There ya go! The second chapter of my story is up. This one took me a while to write, so at least have the decency to tell me that you like it. I am always open to suggestions if you have them, but flames will be put on my wall of shame and be laughed at! R/R! The next chapter will be up soon! 


	3. An understanding

Well, that short vacation was nice. I have a reason to be proud! I updated my fic, four swords times two four times on Sunday! YAY! Anyway, I am now updating this fic. I hope that you all like the new chapter. It may not be as long as the last one because I am not that good at fight scenes, but I will do the best that I can right now. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 3: An understanding  
  
Miroku held his staff at the ready. Without his wind tunnel, he wasn't sure how much of a chance he would have against a giant cat, a man in a futuristic suit of metal, and a bat with huge breasts!  
  
Rouge charged. "Try this on for size, ya cross-dresser!"  
  
She aimed a strong kick at his stomach. Miroku jumped back and brought down his staff. Rouge had no way of dodging at this close range.  
  
Miroku was sure that he had a direct hit. Then, Rouge just seemed pulled out of his way. He looked over to see that the cat had cast out his fishing line and hooked onto the back of her outfit and was reeling her in.  
  
He helped her up. She said, "Thanks a bunch, Big."  
  
The cat known as Big looked down at her and chuckled, good-naturedly.  
  
Eggman eased his mech forward a pace. "Well, little man, let's see how well you dodge this! All systems, full power!"  
  
Eggman let loose a barrage of bullets from his machine gun. Miroku dodged them all by moving from left to right, stepping back and forth if he needed to.  
  
After Eggman ceased his assault, Miroku rushed in with his staff and gave Robotnik's machine a hard hit on the leg, only to find that it had no effect. Eggman let out a laugh. "Ha! You can't break this polimer alloy!"  
  
Miroku growled. Then, he heard someone say, "Excuse me?"  
  
He turned around to see Big standing there. "It is not nice to hit people, Mr. Staff man."  
  
Miroku didn't seem to hear him and took a swing at Big's belly. The impact was not felt by Big in any way. "What the hell is this?" asked Miroku.  
  
Big laughed again, rather dumbly. "Huhuhuhu! That tickles! My turn!" he shouted. Big brought his fist down onto Miroku's face, impacting him with a mighty force. The impact was so great, it sent Miroku straight through a tree and into a rock, causing it to crumble. Miroku managed to get to his feet, though.  
  
Rouge nodded in approval. "Not bad, Big."  
  
Big didn't hear her. "I hope he's alright. I wanna ask him if he goes fishing."  
  
Eggman shook his head at Big. "Sometimes I wonder about you, Big."  
  
******  
  
Shippo continued to stare down his opponents. "You guys are gonna get it for messing with us!"  
  
Amy withdrew her Piko Piko hammer and waved it at him. "We'll just see about that, fox boy!"  
  
Next to her, Tails coughed uncomfortably. Amy turned to him. "Uh, no offence, Tails."  
  
Tails nodded his head. "None taken."  
  
Shippo had charged up a fox fire attack and launched it at Cream. It hit her in the face, causing her to fall over. She began to sniff and then began to cry.  
  
Tails walked over to her and pulled her into his arms, doing his best to comfort her.  
  
Charmy, however, was not amused at all by what Shippo had done. "That this, you bad boy!" he shouted, flying towards Shippo with his stinger poised, ready to deliver the blow.  
  
Shippo jumped out of the way before Charmy had a chance to get any closer to him. That was a mistake. He had jumped right within range of Amy's hammer. She brought it down with all her might, trying to hit the fox as hard as she could.  
  
Shippo yelled and jumped out from under the hammer just as it came crashin to the ground. Shippo stuck his tongue out at Amy and blew a big raspberry at her. "You missed me!" he taunted.  
  
Then, he felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned around only to get punched in the face by a very pissed off Tails. "That was for what you did to Cream!"  
  
Shippo got up off the ground and ran at Tails, catching him in a full body tackle. The two began a game of ruff-and-tumble, both of them appearing to be evenly matched.  
  
Amy and the others stood back and watched. She would step in if Tails needed her help, but for right now, he seemed to be doing okay for himself.  
  
******  
  
Sango mounted Kirara and watched the tree carefully. She had Kirara circle as close to them as she could before she struck. "Boomerang bone!" she shouted.  
  
It was aimed at all three of them. Unfortunately, Shadow reacted quickly and jumped over the imposing weapon while Vector and Knuckles simply sidestepped it. Then, the weapon circled around and Sango caught it.  
  
Shadow looked at her with interest. "Hmm, not a bad move. You've got some skill, I'll give you that, human."  
  
Sango looked at him darkly. "Don't give my any of this! You can save your sweet talk for the devil. But, I doubt he'll even let you into hell!"  
  
Knuckles charged her with his fists raised. "Well, I definitely know where your going, and it ain't heaven!"  
  
Knuckles threw a mighty punch at Kirara, knocking all the wind out of the feline.  
  
Sango jumped and on her way down, kicked Knuckles in the jaw. He let out a groan and backed up a few paces.  
  
As Sango landed, Vector charged her. "Try this on for size, broad!"  
  
Vector opened his mouth wide and aimed a bite a Sango. Sango brought up her boomerang to try and block it. But, Vector simply closed his mouth around the boomerang and bit it in half!  
  
Sango jumped back before she joined her weapon as nothing but two halves on the ground.  
  
Shadow gave her a hard drop-kick as she landed, sending her rolling into a nearby tree. He smirked. "How do you plan to combat three highly skilled warriors without a weapon?" he asked.  
  
Sango stood up and drew her katana blade. "I always have a spare ready." She charged as Shadow got into a fighter stance.  
  
******  
  
Inuyasha leapt forward with his sword above his head. Sonic saw that coming and ran forward with Espio and Omega tailing behind. Omega looked at Inuyasha and said, "Sensors indicate that he is going to attempt a vertical slash as soon as we are within range."  
  
Espio nodded back and said, "Sonic, I'll deal with that attack."  
  
Espio jumped up into the air and shouted, "Behold, ninja power!"  
  
As he spoke, a tornado of leaves spun up and blew Inuyasha back. Inuyasha recovered quickly, got to his feet, and rushed at Omega as Espio landed on the ground.  
  
Omega's clawed hand retracted back into his arm as a flamethrower appeared in its place. "Anialation!" he shouted as a blast of flame shot out of his arm.  
  
Inuyasha quickly jumped out of the way, only to get rammed full-force by Sonic, who had done a big homing attack that connected with Inuyasha's stomach.  
  
Inuyasha was stunned, but landed on his feet. Sonic landed right after him and Inuyasha made a swing at the hedgehog. Sonic did a leg split and went right under the attack. Inuyasha brought his sword above his head. Sonic tried to jump up, but he was having a difficult time.  
  
Just a Inuyasha was going to bring down his sword in a fatal arc, Espio ran up and did a high kick right in Inuyasha's face.  
  
Inuyasha did a barrel roll and kicked himself back onto his feet. "Your gonna pay for that, bastard."  
  
Espio helped Sonic to his feet as he said, "Talking is merely a way to prolong the enevitable. If you really do have the power to destroy us, then let it be shown now. But, before you do, I suggest that you look behind you/"  
  
Inuyasha scoffed at that comment. "Yeah, Like I'm really gonna fall for that old trick."  
  
Inuyasha felt himself get flung forward right past Sonic and Espio. He looked back to see Omega there with his had down like he had just delivered a punch.  
  
Espio smirked. "I tried to warn you."  
  
******  
  
Kagome looked at Tikal and Chaos. The water demon didn't look like he was going to attack her at any moment. In fact, it seemed like he was simply defending Tikal. His arms were outstretched as if to prevent anything from doing harm to her.  
  
She noticed that Tikal was, in fact, injured. Her leg was in a big cast and she seemed to be in a lot of pain.  
  
Kagome took a step forward and she heard Chaos growl. She raised her hands and put down her bow and arrows. "Listen, I'm not gonna hurt you or that girl, okay?"  
  
Chaos put his hands down slowly as he continued to stare at Kagome. His eyes pierced right into her soul, looking for her true intentions. He saw a purely innocent girl. But, he also saw some deep hidden power.  
  
Chaos nodded. "I can see that you are telling the truth. You appear much more sensible than your barbaric friends over there."  
  
Kagome sighed. "Well, living in an age where you need to fight to stay alive will make you that way."  
  
Kagome walked over to the two of them and sat down next to Tikal and examined her leg. "What happened?" she asked.  
  
Tikal gave a quick explanation of everything that had happened and what world they were from. After she had finished her tale, Kagome shared her story with Tikal and Chaos.  
  
Tikal nodded. "So, your trying to stop Naraku from using the jewel of four souls to destroy the world."  
  
Kagome nodded. "And you were transported here by some unknown force."  
  
Kagome stood up. "Well, I'll try and help you in any way that I can."  
  
Chaos helped Tikal up while saying, "Even if we have your support, I don't think your friends over there."  
  
Kagome shrugged. "Don't worry. I have an idea of how to get their attention. SIT!"  
  
Inuyasha came crashing to the ground as he was about to slash through Omega. "Damn this Necklace!"  
  
That got everyone's attention real quick.  
  
******  
  
After a long explanation and many sits for Inuyasha, everything was finally worked out.  
  
Tails turned toward Shippo. "Sorry about that punch I gave you."  
  
Shippo just shrugged. "It's okay. Inuyasha hits a lot harder than you anyway. And I'm sorry about what I did to Cream."  
  
Cream just smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not mad. Thank you for apologizing."  
  
Big and Eggman turned to Miroku. "We both must apologize most profously for the way that we attacked you, Miroku."  
  
Miroku smiled. "It is nothing to be concerned about. I have taken worse and lived."  
  
Rouge walked up to him. "Yeah, I'm sorry to."  
  
Miroku got down on his knees as he said, "Do not trouble yourself, my lady. I just must ask if you would do me the honor of bearing my child."  
  
Rouge blushed and there was an uneasy silence until Sango walked up and hit Miroku hard on the back of the head with her boomerang. "Your getting desperate, you know that, Miroku! She is a bat!"  
  
Sango turned to Rouge. "You'll have to excuse him, Rouge. He is a big-time lecher."  
  
Rouge nodded and backed off.  
  
Vector walked up to Sango. "I'm sorry about the broad comments."  
  
Sango nodded. "Apology accepted."  
  
Inuyasha just said "Feh! I needed this like a kick in the crotch."  
  
Sonic looked at his new 'friend'. "Inuyasha, you should try to loosen up, but. Your to uptight."  
  
Inuyasha growled in response and Sonic backed off.  
  
Chaos picked up Tikal and said, "I'm glad that we have all made up, but right now I think that we should find a place to rest."  
  
Kagome smiled warmly. "You can come back to the village with us. I'm sure that lady Kaede would let you stay there for a while."  
  
Omega nodded in approval. "Yes. With uninterrupted resting time, Tikal's recovery will speed up by fifty percent."  
  
Miroku gave the robot an odd look and whispered to Shadow, "Is he always that precise?"  
  
Shadow crossed his arms. "Unfortunately, he is."  
  
With that delimma solved, the group headed back to the village, hoping to get some rest in and hopefully get used to each other before to long. Unfortunately, for Shadow and Inuyasha, They were destined not to mix well...  
  
_____________________________________________________________  
  
Phew. Another chapter completed. This one is not as long as my last yne, but is longer than the first one. Like I said, I am not that good with fight scenes. But, I tried. Read and Review. Also, I accept any kind of suggestions that you guys can give me. I'll get the next chapter up soon, K? 


	4. get to know each other

Hello! Sorry for the wait, but I had something odd happen to me yesterday. We were rehearsing for an exchange concert at another school and the stage was as hot as hell. It got so hot, I passed out. It was just overheating, but the whole experience threw me for a loop. Anyway, that aside, I have fully recovered and am now ready to continue this fic. Please enjoy.  
  
Chapter 4: Get to know each other.  
  
The group had been walking for quite some time. Sonic was attempting to make a light conversation with Inuyasha, but the half-demon stayed silent, but he seemed to be getting rather annoyed at the blue hedgehog next to him.  
  
Tails was walking next to Cream, Cheese, and Shippo. They were having a merry time, talking about their own worlds and what they liked to do. Shippo looked at Tails and said, "Tell me again about those 'ro-bat' things in your time."  
  
Tails chuckled at his new friend as he stumbled over the foreign word. "First of all, it is pronounced robots. Next, they are basically machines that work like humans and can speak and can do all kinds of neat stuff."  
  
Cream nodded. "That is true. Just look at Mr. Omega. He is living proof."  
  
Eggman had set his Egg Walker on autopilot so he could think while the machine was working. "I don't know how long I am going to be able to function in these primitive times. There isn't a scrap of technology anywhere aside from my egg walker and Omega."  
  
Omega walked up close to the doctor and said, "Doctor, you must remember that the people of this time relied more heavily on what lay around them. They did not have such conveniences as a computer or a cell phone. Maybe humans would have been better off if things had always stayed this primitive."  
  
Eggman looked over to his creation. The only other robot that he had ever built that had acted this way was E-102 Gamma. Gamma had been one of his greatest E-series robots ever. But, he had rebelled in an attempt to assist Sonic and his friends in stopping him and Chaos back when Chaos was still the almighty god of destruction.  
  
Miroku waltzed up to the doctor next. "It is not that I am uncomfortable in this time, it is just that I am quite curious about your time and these tools that you have with you."  
  
Eggman smirked. "This that I am riding in was one of my favorite inventions, the Egg Walker. "With six different weapon outlets, an intensified titanium exterior, and an engine that runs on pure photon energy, this thing can keep going for days on end."  
  
Miroku smiled and nodded, even though he had no idea what the old coot was talking about.  
  
Sango was walking near the Chaotix detective agency. She felt a bit uneasy near Espio. He always had his arms crossed and his eyes closed as if he was always meditating.  
  
She leaned over towards Vector and Charmy. "Why is your friend always in that tranced state?" she asked.  
  
Vector shrugged. "He's a ninja. Its just part of the practice I guess. Why don't you ask him yourself?"  
  
Sango shook her head. "He doesn't seem in a very talkative mood right now."  
  
Charmy smirked. "Let me handle that! I'll wake him up!"  
  
It is true that years of ninja training had raised Espio's senses to obscene levels, but Charmy had learned how to keep himself silent when he was flying.  
  
He fluttered as close to Espio as he could without disturbing the chameleon. Then, when he was almost right next to his ear, he shouted, "HEY, ESPIO! SANGO HAS A QUESTION FOR YOU!"  
  
Sango was prepared to jump away if needed. But all that happed was Espio opened his eyes and turned towards Sango, completely ignoring Charmy.  
  
"Can I help you?" he asked, his voice flat and to the point.  
  
Sango felt herself shrink under his intense gaze, but she cleared her throat and said, "I was just wondering why you are always acting so dark. You just seem so cut off from your friends."  
  
Espio smirked. "You don't need to concern yourself. It may not seem like it, but I am, in fact, on very sociable terms with my friends. It is just the fact that I was trained as a ninja since I was very young. As a result, I must meditate on a nearly constant base to keep my skills in tact. Do you ask because you are having the same problem with your friends?"  
  
Sango quickly shook her head. Espio frowned. "It is no use lying to me. I can sense a dark cloud of depression and anguish over you."  
  
Sango sighed and related the tale of her brother to them. Charmy let his arms droop at the end. "That's so sad..."  
  
Vector nodded. "It sure is."  
  
Espio bowed his head. "The forces of life and death are not meant to be tampered with. But, there may be a way that we can bring your brother out of his trance without endangering his life."  
  
Sango looked at the three. "You three are detectives, right?"  
  
All three of them nodded their heads. Sango smiled slightly. "Would it be alright if I asked you to do a job for me?"  
  
Vector crossed his arms. "That depends. What is the job and what is the pay?"  
  
Sango eagerly answered, "I would like you to try and find a way to bring my brother back. I can pay you anything you want in any form you want, just please say yes."  
  
She made the last part sound so desperate that even Espio had to let his features soften.  
  
Vector walked closer to her and said, "Well, with an offer like that, we can't refuse. Sango, I promise on my honor as a detective that your brother will be saved."  
  
Sango let out a deep breath that she didn't know she was holding. "Thank you. Words cannot express how grateful I am to you at the moment."  
  
Espio nodded. "If you really want to thank me, you could try to open up to people a little more. That monk seems nice enough, his overactive sex drive aside."  
  
Sango scoffed. "Right, like I really want to open up to a lecher like that."  
  
Charm shook his head. "You never know. People can always change."  
  
While this was going on, Kagome was walking next to Chaos who was carrying Tikal bridal style with Shadow standing close to them. Tikal winced when she tried to reajust her leg to a more comfortable position.  
  
Chaos looked down at her. "Don't move so much. You'll only make the pain worse."  
  
Tikal stopped squirming and relaxed in Chaos' surprisingly warm arms.  
  
Shadow rolled his eyes at the scene. Kagome noticed this. "Why are you so glum, Shadow?"  
  
Shadow gave her a cold look and said, "I am always like this. It doesn't help that your half-demon friend and I don't mix that well."  
  
Kagome didn't have enough time to respond as they heard Inuyasha Begin to curse at Sonic who had made another attempt at making a conversation. "Damn it, you rodent! Shut the hell up!"  
  
Amy stepped forward with her hammer. "Don't talk to Sonic like that!"  
  
Inuyasha growled and leaped at them. Kagome shouted, "Sit boy!"  
  
Inuyasha hit the ground with a great force a few inches away. "What the heck was that?" asked Rouge and Knuckles from where they were standing.  
  
Kagome smirked. "That was just a bit of power that I have over him."  
  
Sonic Shrugged. "This is what I get for trying to get to know a guy better. This even happened when I tried to talk to Shadow."  
  
Amy clung to him for a second and asked if he was alright, but he assured her that he was fine.  
  
Knuckles, then realized how Rouge was and quickly slinked away.  
  
Rouge looked at him, annoyed. "What?"  
  
He held up the master emerald. "I was just making sure that you weren't trying to get the jewel, bat-girl."  
  
Rouge growled. "Knuckles, I said that I would not try to steal it! God, can't you just swallow your pride and trust me for once in your life?"  
  
This carried on for quite a while until Shadow stepped in between them and got them to knock it off.  
  
Miroku looked up at Big who was standing next tome him opposite of Eggman. "Do they argue like that often?" he asked.  
  
Big nodded. "It is usually about that pretty stone. I don't know why. They should be friends."  
  
Rouge and Knuckles had quickly separated and moved to opposite sides of the group to avoid another argument.  
  
******  
  
With all the distractions aside, they finally made it back the village. Needless to say, they villagers were quite curious about these odd creatures that came back with the others.  
  
Everyone ignored the stares as best they could. Kaede called them in and was told about everything that had transpired thusfar.  
  
She nodded as the tale came to an end. "Eye, it would seem likely that those jewels would appear in this era as well. That would explain this."  
  
Kaede reached under a futon she had in the room and pulled out a red jewel about as big as a fist. Shadow stared at it. "Yes, that is a chaos emerald alright."  
  
Eggman, who had left his mech outside, took it and shifted it around in his hand. "One down, six to go."  
  
Inuyasha scoffed. "Fine, because the less time I have to spend with Mr. Sunshine here, the better."  
  
Shadow noticed that he was pointing to him. "Hey, your not exactally the most cheerful person here either. Go crap in a sandbox, fuzzy."  
  
Inuyasha growled. "What's your problem? Your just upset because that girl what's-her-name, maraca, died."  
  
That struck a nerve. Shadow got up and moved close to Inuyasha. "Who told you about Maria?"  
  
Inuyasha pointed over to Sonic. "He mentioned her and you when he was being as annoying as he.."  
  
Inuyasha didn't get to finish his sentence as he was punched in the face by a very pissed off Shadow. "You bastard! Don't you ever talk about Maria like that! As for your first question, my problem is that I saw a friend die right in front of my eyes. I have been through more mental pain than you will ever go through and as far as I'm concerned, you can rot in hell!"  
  
Shadow sped out the door as Inuyasha recovered from the punch. Sonic looked at him. "That was cold, dude. He's had a rough life. I don't think he needs you to make it any more painful for him.  
  
Inuyasha was about to spout off something when he felt Kagome grab ahold of his ear. "What?" he asked.  
  
Kagome, seeming much like a mother in this situation, said, "We're going to go and find Shadow and you are going to apologize!"  
  
Her tone scared Inuyasha, so he made no move to resist as he was dragged out the door by Kagome.  
  
Tikal watched them go from her sitting position. "I don't think that we are off to a very good start here."  
  
Everyone had to agree with her. Omega's voice buzzed, "Shadow and Inuyasha are going to have to learn to work together as will the rest of us or our chances of success an survival are calculated as sub-optimal."  
  
_____________________________________________________________  
  
Tell me, did I portray enough emotion in this chapter. The next one is going to be a bit of a continuation of this chapter as the Sonic gang try to learn a bit more about the Inu gang and the world that they are dealing with now. And what about Shadow? Will he be okay? I'll update as soon as I can. Until then, tell me what you think! 


	5. Adaptation

Well, I had a review that told said that they felt I had taken a little to much time to post an update, so I decided to jump right on another new chapter. Praise me and my awesome updating prowess! Anyway, please tell me that you enjoy this semi-humorous chapter where Sonic and the gang try and adapt to life in the feudal era. Plus, will the problem between Shadow and Inuyasha be resolved?  
  
Chapter 5: adaptation  
  
Big jumped up and said, "I'm gonna go and find a spot to go fishing."  
  
Kaede nodded. "Do what you will. Just be cautious around the villagers. I do not think that they are used to you or your friends yet."  
  
Big nodded and, with Froggy on his head, headed off to find a place to go fishing.  
  
As Big left, Eggman said, "Big may have the right idea there. It is evident that we are going to be here for a while. I suggest that we all follow Big's example and go look around. We are going to have to get used to the way that people live here and they are going to have to get used to us as well."  
  
Everyone nodded. Tikal grasped her crutch and made an attempt to rise, but failed. Kaede eyed the echidna. "It may be in your best interest to stay here with me, child."  
  
Tikkal nodded. Chaos looked at her with his green eyes growing slightly. "Miss Kaede, with your permission, would it be alright if I stayed here with Tikal?"  
  
Kaede nodded. "Yes. I wouldn't mind in the least. If you would like, I could use some help with dinner."  
  
Chaos nodded, glad to know that he could be of use to someone. Tikal smiled at him. "Your very sweet, you know Chaos?"  
  
Chaos' face features turned a light shade of red, indicating that the water demon was blushing.  
  
Everyone laughed a bit at this and headed out of the hut, going in their own direction to do some exploring.  
  
******  
  
Shadow sighed as he looked out across the lake he was standing by. It looked very beautiful to him. There was a long sun stream crossing from one side to the other and a slight breeze was blowing from the north.  
  
He closed his eyes. In this type of enviroment, he could think. Although Eggman had confirmed that he was, indeed, the actual Shadow and not just a clone and had managed to bring back his memory, he was still very confused.  
  
Eggman had only been able to bring back what Shadow himself remembered about his past. This meant that a lot was still very hazy to him.  
  
Once again, he opened his eyes and stared out across the lake. He still could not believe what Inuyasha had done. He did not like anyone talking about Maria like that to him. In fact, he did not like it if people brought up the subject, period.  
  
He sat down near the edge and started drifting away in his own head when he heard someone behind him. Jumping up, he turned around quickly to see Inuyasha and Kagome standing there.  
  
Shadow crossed his arms and stared at Inuyasha, menacingly. "What do you want?" he asked. "Did you come here mock me and those I care about some more?"  
  
Inuyasha was about to make a smart comment when Kagome pushed him forward. He walked up to Shadow and looked down at the slightly shorter person in front of him.  
  
Sighing, and with much difficulty, Inuyasha said, "Shadow, look, maybe I was a bit harsh before and I'm sorry."  
  
Although it was not a very sincere apology, Shadow simply turned back to the lake and sat down. "Apology accepted."  
  
Inuyasha just scoffed and turned back to Kagome. "There, I apologized. Are you satisfied?"  
  
Kagome just nodded. Inuyasha simply sped off back towards the village using his demonic speed. Although he was fast, he was nothing compared to Sonic or Shadow.  
  
Kagome walked up to where Shadow was sitting. "May I join you?" she asked politely.  
  
Shadow looked up at her and nodded. Kagome sat down and looked out across the lake. Then, looking back at Shadow she said, "Shadow, I think your judging Inuyasha a little to quickly. In reality, they two of you are alike."  
  
Shadow gave her an odd look. "Kagome, I realize that I am not really a people person, but even I have some moral. I can't really speak for that ill-mannered, foul-mouthed, foul-tempered bastard."  
  
Kagome frowned and sighed. "I didn't mean in personality. I meant in past."  
  
That grabbed Shadow's attention. He was interested in learning a little more about someone who could possibly have gone through as much pain as him.  
  
Kagome began to let Shadow in on Inuyasha's past. "You see, when I first met him, I found out that he had once been in love with a priestess named Kikyo, who I happen to be the reincarnation of. The demon named Naraku changed his form so that he looked like Inuyasha and stole the Shikon jewel from Kikyo, giving her a fatal injury in the process. The jewel was returned to the temple, but the real Inuyasha made an attempt to steal the jewel. Kikyo had promised to use it to turn him into a full human so that they could be together forever. But, Kikyo shot an arrow at Inuyasha, pinning him to a tree. Then she died. Inuyasha never saw her die, but he felt betrayed by her ever since."  
  
Shadow was speechless. It was true that he had seen a loved one die, but being tricked into thinking that someone close to you betrayed you had to be just as bad, if not worse.  
  
Shadow looked back out across the lake. "Maybe I should try and make peace with him, or at least try and lay off of him a little."  
  
Kagome put a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks a lot Shadow. I really appreciate it."  
  
Kagome got up and started walking back to the village. Shadow smirked. Maybe this time wouldn't be so bad after all.  
  
******  
  
Big had been looking around for a place to fish for a while now. Then, he came up the a slow-moving stream where a bunch of boys were casting out.  
  
Big walked up and asked, "Can I fish here?"  
  
They all looked at the strange purple cat with a frog on his head, maybe a little fearfully as well.  
  
Then, one of them said, "Aren't you one of lady Kagome's friends?"  
  
Big nodded. The boys nodded back. "Then feel free to fish with us any time that you want."  
  
Big chuckled and sat down. He got out his rod and threw a long cast out. No sooner had it touched the water when he felt something tugging on the end. "Something's biting!" he exclaimed happily.  
  
The boys were amazed at how fast he had managed to hook a fish and from the way he was tugging at the line, it looked like a big one. Froggy jumped up and down on Big's head excitedly.  
  
They began cheering Big on as he continued to reel in the line. Finally, after quite a bit of struggle, he pulled the struggling fish out of the water. It was a beauty. It had to bee at least fifty pounds if not bigger.  
  
"Wow, that is amazing!" one of the boys exclaimed.  
  
The others nodded. "Yeah! None of us have ever been able to hook a fish that fast, let alone a whopper like that!"  
  
Big chuckled as one of the boys asked, "Can you teach me to fish like that?"  
  
Big nodded as he cast out again. "Okey-dokey!"  
  
******  
  
Omega was wandering through the paths of the small village looking for something interesting to do. The stares that he was receiving from the villagers did not bother him in the least.  
  
Then, he came upon two older gentlemen who were in a fierce game of chess.  
  
They looked briefly at Omega who looked back at them, but they did not appear bothered by his presence and continued with their game. Omega watched until he noticed that one of them was about to make a grave mistake. "Sir, by moving your bishop three spaces down and to the right, you are greatly endangering your chances of winning this game."  
  
The man looked at Omega, annoyed. "You know about chess, dear friend?"  
  
Omega nodded. "I consider myself quite well-versed in the strategic part of the game."  
  
The man turned stern, moving his bishop. "Then you should know to stay quiet when someone is trying to make a move."  
  
The man who was playing against the one who had spoken moved his queen up and declared, "Checkmate. You should have listened to the metal man."  
  
The man who had just lost was grumbling and Omega decided that it would be wise to move on before he got involved in an argument.  
  
******  
  
Sango was sitting over a workbench trying to repair her damaged boomerang when Eggman just happened to wander by. "What are you doing, Sango?"  
  
Sango looked up at the doctor and said, "I'm just trying to repair my weapon. Your friend really did a number on it."  
  
Eggman nodded. "Yes, Vector does have a strong set of jaws. Not to worry, though. I think I may be able to help."  
  
Sango looked at him as if to ask how. Eggman chuckled. "Back in my world, I specialized in all types of machinery and weapons. This included some of the more primitive types of weapons."  
  
Eggman bent down and looked more closely at the damaged weapon. After a few moments he ran off. Sango had wondered what that was all about until he came back a few minutes later with his egg walker. Jumping out, he carried two belts assorted with many portable tools.  
  
Sango eyed the tools as he bent down near the boomerang again.  
  
Sango watched with interest as he withdrew a small welding torch and put the two pieces of the boomerang near each other.  
  
He turned it on, making a small blue flame appear on the end. Sango was slightly alarmed when he touched it to the weapon, until she noticed that the pieces seemed to start joining together as the flame walked along the damaged crack on the weapon.  
  
After another minute, Eggman turned off the welding torch and held up the now repaired boomerang and handed it to Sango.  
  
Sango was amazed. Normally, to repair damage of that caliber would take nearly an hour. But, Eggman had shortened the time to minutes.  
  
She stared at it for a few seconds before taking it. "Thank you."  
  
Eggman waved it off. "Think nothing of it. I am always happy to help anyone who will accept my help."  
  
Eggman walked as Sango decided to find a place for some target practice with her repaired boomerang.  
  
******  
  
Chaos ran everywhere in the hut trying to get all of the ingredients for Kaede. As he placed some sage into the pot, Tikal looked at him and said, "Don't stress yourself, Chaos. Your going to pass out from exhaustion if you keep up this pace."  
  
Chaos sighed and sat down next to Tikal. "Well, maybe I could take a break. It's just that, I really want to be accepted in this world, so I'm trying a little harder than I first did in our world."  
  
Tikal shook her head. Chaos had changed his ways, but many people still viewed him as a monster. When they went walking down the street, it was not uncommon for at least one person to careen down the street spouting scared obsenities or something similar.  
  
Tikla leaned over from her sitting position and hugged the water demon, causing him to turn from aqua-blue to cherry-red in seconds. Tikal said, "Chaos, please don't try so hard. I'm sure that you'll be accepted here no matter how you act. And in our world, you will be accepted eventually."  
  
Chaos thought for a moment before saying, "Maybe your right. I have been trying a little to hard. Thank you for the reassurance, Tikal."  
  
Chaos returned her hug and just sat there for a moment, not wanting to let her go. For some reason that he could not explain, he just felt so safe and comfortable when he held her in his arms. Little did he know that she felt the same way.  
  
Kaede had watched this all from behind the skin that lead into her herb room. And so, it appeared that there was romance blossoming in several directions this year.  
  
Knuckles and Rouge were walking around, looking for something other than each other to occupy themselves with. Then, they heard a man over at a table near them boasting that he was the best arm-wrestler in the village.  
  
Rouge walked up to him and said, "Would you be willing to bet on that?"  
  
The man laughed as he looked at Rouge. "As sure as I'm standing here, little lady. But I have a thing about arm-wrestling women."  
  
Rouge shook her head and laughed. "Not me, him!" she said, pointing at Knuckles.  
  
Knuckles stepped up to her. "Rouge, what the heck do you think your doing, here?"  
  
Rogue looked at him. "Giving you a chance to show that your twice as strong as this lummox here."  
  
Knuckles sighed. There was no way that he was going to get out of it. He sat down at the table across from the man. The man smirked. "Tell you what, sir. If you beat me, I'll give you this pearl necklace that I got of the last bloke who said that he could beat me."  
  
Knuckles was about to answer when Rouge stepped up and shouted, "He'll do it!"  
  
"Rouge!" Knuckles shouted.  
  
The man nodded. "Fine, but what do I get if I win?"  
  
Rouge pointed to Knuckles right hand, which was clutching the master emerald protectively.  
  
The man smiled. "Sounds reasonable to me."  
  
Knuckles could have pounded Rouge into the ground right then and there. But, now with the bet made, he could not back out now.  
  
As he set the emerald on the table next to the pearl necklace that the man had set down, he whispered to Rouge, "You know that I am going to get you for this, right?"  
  
Rouge frowned. "C'mon, what are you worried about? This guy is gonna be easy pickings for you."  
  
Knuckles sighed as he grasped the man's waiting hand. Rouge gave the signal to start and the man pushed with all his might against Knuckles' hand.  
  
Knuckles didn't even have to push back to keep his hand in the position that it had started in. Rouge was right. This was easy. Knuckles smirked as the man made more futile attempts to bring his hand down. "We can stop now and call it a tie if you want."  
  
The man continued to push as he answered. "I never tie. There is no way that I'm backing down."  
  
Knuckles shrugged his free shoulder. "Have it your way, then."  
  
Knuckles gave one tremendous push that sent the man's arm down onto the table in an instant. The man looked up at Knuckles, flabbergasted at what had just happened.  
  
Knuckles continued to smirk as he said, "You lose."  
  
Knuckles picked up the master emerald and the pearl necklace. He handed the necklace to Rouge who put it around her neck.  
  
Knuckles was given a surprise when Rouge suddenly put her arms around him in a warm and friendly embrace. Knuckles recovered and returned the embrace. After they backed off from one another, Knuckles asked, "What was that for?"  
  
Rouge smiled as they stared walking again. "For winning me this necklace. You know, you can be really sweet when you want to be, Knuckles."  
  
******  
  
Shippo was Showing Cream, Cheese, and Tails around the village and they were trying to find something to amuse themselves with when they came across a few other children who were kicking a ball back and forth.  
  
Shippo shouted at them, "Can we play?"  
  
The others quickly said yes, as Shippo had become quite popular with many of the youths in the village and hadgotten them and himself in trouble with many of the elders more than once.  
  
They began kicking the ball back and forth until Cream accidentally kicked it high over their heads. They all thought that the ball would be lost until they saw Tails flying towards it and catching it with his hands, expertly.  
  
The others cheered as he landed and started to question him on how he had managed to do that.  
  
Tails was very uncomfortable about all the attention that was centered around his twin tails and began to shy away from the crowd with Shippo and Cream.  
  
Shoppo scratched his head as he said, "Sorry about that. I didn't know tht you were so uncomfortable around big crowds."  
  
Tails shook his head. "Don't worry about it. It's just that I was teased a lot about these tails when I was younger."  
  
Cream stepped near him. "Yea, that's okay. I wonder what they other's are up to."  
  
******  
  
Amy was currently looking all over for Sonic. She looked everywhere she thought he would be. It turns out that she found him sleeping near a pond. She quickly woke him up.  
  
Sonic just looked at her and asked, "What is it?"  
  
Amy just sighed. "I was just wondering if you would like to go and do something later."  
  
Sonic sighed. "Fine. I'll get up. Where do you want to go?"  
  
She was about to answer when a strong wind blew over the lake, making them cover their faces.  
  
They looked over and there stood Shadow. "Nice to see you again."  
  
Sonic looked at his friend and he could tell that Shadow was not happy about something. Shadow walked over to Sonic to the point where their faces were almost touching. "Sonic, if you ever tell anyone about Maria or my personal life again without my permission, I can garentee you a slow and painful death."  
  
Sonic gulped as Shadow backed away. Shadow smirked. "Now that that is settled, how about a race."  
  
Sonic nodded. "Your on, pal."  
  
They both sped off without another word, each of them intent on winning before the other did. Amy stared off at where the two had last been seen. Then, she shouted loud enough for the lord above to hear, "Why does this always happen to me?!?!"  
  
******  
  
The Chaotix were standing on the outskirts of the village with Miroku at their side. Charmy had "accidentally" told Miroku about their job to find and save Kohaku and he had insisted that he came along. The strange part was, Miroku had been seen by Espio giving Charmy a big handful of sugar candy.  
  
Charmy had found a long trail of fresh footprints that seemed to match the description that Sango had given them earlier.  
  
Vector stood up after looking at the footprints a little more closely. "He came by here, all right. I'd say a day ago at the least."  
  
Espio was not very comfortable with the fact that they were going on their own. Even though they did have good fighting skills and Eggman had removed the cork missile from Miroku's hand, he still had doubts about persuing their subject. "I still say we should have alerted the others as to our whereabouts."  
  
Miroku shook his head. "No, we'll be fine. I can promise you that."  
  
The four headed off in the direction the footprints led. One for the payment, one for the honor, one because it was fun, and one to impress the girl he secretly loved.  
  
____________________________________________________________  
  
Phew, what a long chapter. YOU HAD BETTER APRICIATE THIS ONE! I worked really hard to make something satisfactory for you all. Remember to review and give me suggestions. I'll update soon, k? 


	6. A mission accomplished

Once again, I take time off of my busy schedule to come and update my fics for you people. Okay, so I had nothing to do and this just happened to be sitting in front of me. Anyway, this is the new chapter, take it or leave it. In this chapter, I do something good. Read and find out!  
  
Chapter 6: A mission accomplished  
  
Miroku sighed as he and the Chaotix continued to walk. There was nothing to do but walk and their destination was unknown, other than the trail of footprints that they had been following. "I don't mean to complain, but do any of you think that we could stop and rest?"  
  
Vector looked back at the monk. "Listen, you're the one who wanted to come with us. If you can't keep up, then just go back to the village."  
  
Charmy giggled with enthusiasm. "Too bad you don't have wings like me!"  
  
Miroku was about to respond when Espio held up his hand for silence. "I'm sensing multiple figures moving up ahead."  
  
The all got down on their knees and crawled near the bushes. Looking over, the saw four figures standing there. Two of them were obviously female. A third figure was indistinguishable, as he wore a large white baboon skin.  
  
The Chaotix's attention was on the fourth figure, however, as he was their target. There, stood a young boy, presumidly in his early teens, standing there. His outfit was black and tight-fitting just like Sango's and his hair matched his suit. His hand was clutching a chained sickle, protectively.  
  
Vector nodded in the boy's direction. "That must be Kohaku, Sango's little brother."  
  
Miroku nodded, knowing the boy's face very well.  
  
Espio, once again, shushed them and said, "Be quiet. We must try and learn what we can from our enemies."  
  
Everyone hunkered down and began to listen to the conversation.  
  
The one in the baboon skin began to speak. "Well, Kikyo, I must say that I am glad to have you with us once again. Your abilities to detect the shards will defenatly come in handy."  
  
The one who he had addressed as Kikyo, one of the females dressed in a white kimono, bowed. "I am only to happy to help you. The sooner that I get the jewel, the sooner that I can deal with Inuyasha."  
  
The second female scoffed. "Just watch it, girl. There are others who are just as compitant as you here."  
  
The man in the baboon skin seemed to eye her closely. "Then, tell me, Kagura, what do you have to offer to me so that I won't have to kill you right here, right now?"  
  
Kagura reached into her kimono and pulled out a shimmering yellow emerald. "I have this. I can feel great power radiating from this gem."  
  
Everyone's eyes widened as they looked on. Charmy whispered, "That a chaos emerald!"  
  
Vector nodded. "Well, at least we know where another one is."  
  
The conversation continued. "Yes, I can feel this jewel's great energy and I have also felt a similar energy in many different directions. This can only mean that my warping magic has worked."  
  
Miroku cocked an eyebrow as the man continued to speak.  
  
Kagura was a little curious. "What do you mean, master Naraku?"  
  
Naraku seemed to smirk from beneath his hood. "It is simple. Using all of the energy that I had, I managed to create a warp using a large mass of energy that I found in another world. I brought some of that world's most powerful beings to this time. I also took the liberty to take the power source as well. I hope that they meet with Inuyasha soon. Surely they will destroy each other and I will be able to take this newfound power along with the Shikon jewel!"  
  
Miroku growled. "So, it is Naraku again, that bastard."  
  
Espio nodded. "So, this is the evil demon that everyone here speaks about with such spite."  
  
Kikyo spoke, "Just one of curiosity, Exactly how does the jewel shard in Kohaku's back sustain his life?"  
  
Naraku laughed. "Kikyo, that was all just a clever ruse. Yes, the jewel did bring him back from the land of the dead, but it does nothing more than keep him under my control. If the shard were to be removed, then he would regain his conscious thought as well as his memories of everything that had transpired in his life up to the point where the jewel was removed."  
  
The Chaotix all smirked at this news and even Miroku had to crack a smile. Espio, Vector, and Charmy all stood up and Miroku soon joined them.  
  
Espio smirked as he headed out into the clearing. "Thank you for that little bit of information, my friend. We'll just take the boy and that jewel off of your hands."  
  
Naraku smirked. "Ah, you must be one of the entities from the other world."  
  
Espio nodded as Vector stepped up. "Listen, bud. We wanna get this done as smoothly as possible, so if you hand the kid over, along with the gem, no one is gonna get hurt."  
  
Kagura laughed as Vector finished this speech. "Sorry, but someone is going to get hurt here, and it will most likely be you."  
  
Charmy bared his stinger, ready to pounce if it was necessary. "Your rotten!" he said.  
  
Miroku stepped forward, baring his staff. He knew that his wind tunnel would be useless against Naraku since he was the one who had caused the curse in the first place. "Naraku, I have let you get away with too much. Your rein of terror ends here and now."  
  
Naraku frowned. "I think not."  
  
He motioned with his hand and Kohaku leaped forward with his sickle ready.  
  
Charmy flew the left, Miroku and Vector sidestepped to the right, and Espio back flipped away from the attack.  
  
Kagura made a sweeping motion with her hand and a gust of wind sent Charmy flying. If Miroku hadn't caught him in time, he probably would have kept going.  
  
Vector grabbed onto Kohaku's free hand and flipped him up side down and onto the ground.  
  
Kohaku got right back up and came at them again with the sickle.  
  
Naraku motioned for Kagura and Kikyo to come near him. "Come on you two. They only wanted Kohaku, so let us see them deal with this."  
  
Kagura did not like the idea of leaving a fight without seeing her enemies die, but she would let them go for now. Naraku, Kikyo, and Kagura faded out of sight, leaving Kohaku to deal with the four alone.  
  
Miroku attempted to trip the bow with his staff, not having any luck. The kid was quick, he would give him that.  
  
Kohaku tried to turn his assault on Espio, but the Chameleon was no where to be seen. Then, Kohaku felt something hit him in the back, He was knocked off balance, but quickly recovered and did a quick barrel roll until he was standing up again.  
  
Espio was standing where Kohaku had been. He had attempted a kick on the boy to try and get him onto the ground so they could try and get the shard out of him. No such luck.  
  
Kohaku let his sickle fly again, this time at Charmy. Charmy knew that he would not have enough time to dodge, but he knew he would be all right. He was right. Vector stood between him and the weapon. Opening his jaws wide, Vector let a massive purple bubble fly out. Upon impacting the sickle, it exploded.  
  
The explosion not only knocked over Kohaku, but also broke the chain that held his weapon together.  
  
Kohaku quickly kicked himself up and drew out his katana blade.  
  
Vector shrugged. "Does this kid ever give up?"  
  
Miroku shook his head. "Apparently not."  
  
Charmy flew up out of no where and charged at Kohaku with his stinger.  
  
Kohaku's blade clashed with the stinger. Surprisingly, it broke in half.  
  
Charmy giggled. "I gotta keep this thing strong, don't I?"  
  
Kohaku, seeing that he didn't stand a chance against these warriors, turned around and tried to make a bolt for the forest. Unfortunately, Espio was standing there. "I'm sorry, but I am afraid that we cannot let you go."  
  
Kohaku tried to turn around, but found Miroku standing there, his staff raised. "Your coming back with us."  
  
Kohaku looked to the left and right to see Charmy and Vector flanking him there. He made one final attempt. He charged straight at Vector, trying to get past him. Vector stepped to one side and extended his arm. Kohaku ran into it at full speed, knocking all of the wind out of him. Kohaku fell to his knees.  
  
Espio saw his chance. He drew out one of his sherikuns and threw it. It embedded itself in the boy's back, right where the jewel was.  
  
The jewel popped out along with the sherikun. Kohaku fell to the ground and lay there, flat on his stomach.  
  
Miroku stepped forward and picked up the shard that had landed on the ground. Espio walked forward and picked up the fallen star. After wiping up the blood, he carefully placed it back with his others.  
  
Charmy set himself down right next to Kohaku and waited. Vector shook the boy lightly as he stirred.  
  
Kohaku opened his eyes. "Where am I?" he asked, sleepily.  
  
Miroku knelt down beside him. "Just rest. You've had a rough ordeal."  
  
Kohaku suddenly shot up and looked around. "I remember everything now! Naraku emplacing that jewel shard in me, enduring the torture, and attacking my own sister!"  
  
Kohaku began to shed tears of sadness and anger. Espio put his hand on the kid's shoulder. "Kohaku, your actions were not your own. Your sister holds no malice towards you. In fact, she was the one who employed us to find you.  
  
Kohaku dried his tears and looked up at the chameleon. "I don't know how to thank you enough. You saved me from Naraku's control."  
  
Vector just waved it off. "Don't mention it. It's all part of being a good detective."  
  
Miroku smiled and helped Kohaku to his feet. Charmy smiled. "Your sister's gonna be really happy to see you, you know!"  
  
Kohaku smiled and nodded. This was the first time that a smile had graced his face in a long time. The group of five started off for the village, completely satisfied with the turnout of this event.  
  
******  
  
Back at the village, in Kaede's hut, Chaos and Tikal were soundly sleeping on a futon near the fire, in each other's arms.  
  
Chaos opened his large, amythest eyes to see a sleeping beauty. He smirked and gently tapped Tikal. She opened her eyes to see Chaos there as well.  
  
She smiled. "How did you sleep?" she asked.  
  
Chaos snuggled a little closer to her and said, "Like a baby. What about you?"  
  
Tikal giggled. "Same here."  
  
Just then, the door opened and in came Sonic and Shadow who were currently arguing about who had won the race. Sonic said, "I'm telling you, Shadow, my foot was three inches in front of yours when we crossed the finish line."  
  
Shadow shook his head. "Your delusional! I think I would know when I won the race, and I won the race."  
  
Sonic was about to reply when he saw Tikal and Chaos laying there on a futon in each other's arms.  
  
Sonic smirked. "Don't you two know that having unprotected sex is a big no- no?"  
  
Tikal blushed and Chaos lashed out his arm and gave Sonic a big hit in the head. Shadow was laughing his ass off as Sonic came crashing down.  
  
Tikal frowned but did not say anything. After Shadow recovered from his laughing fit and Sonic got up and dusted himself off.  
  
Chaos and Tikal got up and stretched a bit as Chaos apologized. "Forgive me, Sonic, but we were not doing anything of that sort."  
  
Then, Knuckles and Rouge chose this time to enter. "What's going on in here?" asked Rouge.  
  
Shadow sighed. "Nothing out of the ordinary."  
  
Big walked in next, carrying three huge fish while froggy was sleeping on his head. "This place has great fish!" he exclaimed.  
  
Eggman and Sango entered next and they seemed to be in a conversation of weaponry.  
  
Omega entered next. "It seems like the people here are not interested in advice of any kind."  
  
Inuyasha and Kagome walked in. Shadow walked up and extended a hand. "What is this?" asked Inuyasha.  
  
Shadow, with his arm still outstretched said, "We will make little progress in this world if we are always at each other's throats. I think it would be in both of our best interests if we established a truce as soon as possible."  
  
Inuyasha snorted but shook Shadow's hand anyway.  
  
Amy entered, looking very ticked off and wielding her hammer like a samurai warrior. "Sonic, could I have a word with you about leaving me behind like that?"  
  
Sonic gulped and slinked to the darkest corner of the room that he could find.  
  
Shippo, Tails, Cream, and Cheese entered last talking about something ro other.  
  
After everyone was finally in the hut, Kaede came out and said, "I'm afraid that I may need to find a bigger hut for you all."  
  
Everyone agreed. Then, Cream noticed something. "Um, has anyone seen Mr. Monk or the Chaotix?"  
  
Everyone shook her head. Amy stated, "Well, I did see them head off somewhere. Miroku was with them and they were talking about trying to find someone named Kohaku."  
  
Kagome, Inuyasha, and Shippo turned to Sango. She sighed in defeat and relayed the entire story of her brother to Sonic and his friends and told them about hiring the Chaotix to find him for her.  
  
Eggman nodded. "Miroku must have gone with them. That was quite caring of him, wouldn't you agree, Sango?"  
  
Sango pouted. "Yeah, right. He probably just went with them to try and impress me."  
  
Tails looked out the window before saying, "Well, I hope it works because here they come."  
  
Everyone hurried out to see Miroku, Vector, Charmy, and Espio there. They now had a fifth member with them.  
  
Sango looked at the boy, who looked back at her.  
  
The both ran to each other. They embraced as tears of joy streamed from their eyes. The broken family was finally back together again.  
  
Amy was trying not to cry herself after seeing this.  
  
Sango looked towards the Chaotix and Miroku. "Thank you so much!" she said.  
  
Vector waved his hand. "Well, boys, another job well done."  
  
_____________________________________________________________  
  
Okay, this was another long chapter. I hope that you all like it. Rather tear-jerking chapter wasn't it? Well, I got to get another chapter up real soon. My spring break starts the week after next, so I'll try and get a few chapters done then. See ya'll soon! 


	7. Kouga and the Chaos Emerald

Well, I guess it is time to crank out another chapter, eh? Just as a side- note, one of the reviews that I received gave me a pretty interesting suggestion involving Omega and someone named Kanna. The only problem is, I have no idea who Kanna is. I have only watched the series up to the point when they first meet Kouga. That is the extent of my knowledge. So, if someone in a review could tell me a bit more about Kanna, then I'll probably be able to put him in this story. Okay, enough of my mindless prattle. ON WITH THE SHOW!  
  
Chapter 6: Kouga and a chaos emerald  
  
After the heart-warming reunion of Sango and Kohaku, the Chaotix and Miroku had everyone sit down so that they could tell them about what they had seen in the clearing.  
  
Espio was the first to spoke. "Well, first off, we saw this 'Naraku' that you were all talking about earlier."  
  
Vector nodded. "He also had two ladies with him. One of them he called Kagura and the other was Kikyo."  
  
Shadow's ears perked up as Inuyasha stuck his face right up to vector's snout. Aside from Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo, he was the only one who knew about Inuyasha's past.  
  
Inuyasha began to shout questions at Vector. "Where were they, are you sure that he called her Kikyo, what was she doing?"  
  
Vector backed up as Charmy answered the questions. "She was where we found Kohaku, yes he called her Kikyo, she was worshiping him and saying that she was glad to work with him."  
  
That last sentence seemed to shake Inuyasha up quite a bit. Sonic stepped forward. "What's so important about a girl named Kikyo?"  
  
Inuyasha gave Sonic a look that said, "Either you shut up or I'll beat the hell out of you."  
  
Sonic made the smart choice and backed away. Instead, Kohaku answered that question. "Well, from what I learn while I was under his control, he wanted her because she could find the Shikon jewel and what you call the chaos emeralds. "Are you sure there were no other reasons?"  
  
Kohaku gave that a little thought before saying, "It also seemed that they were lusting for each other as well."  
  
Everyone could tell that Inuyasha was now boiling with rage. Not knowing any better, Cream came forward. "Mr. Inuyasha, what's wrong? Maybe if you tell us, we can help you."  
  
Inuyasha looked at the rabbit with cold eyes. Reaching out, Inuyasha gave her a hard shove. Cream was knocked backward and tripped over a low stool in the hut. She landed on the ground, knocking her head hard.  
  
Tears welled up in her eyes as Tails rushed over and helped her up. "Are you alright?" he asked.  
  
Cream sniffed, trying hard not to burst into tears. "I-I'm okay."  
  
Eggman and Amy regarded Inuyasha with hard eyes.  
  
"Inuyasha, how could you?" Amy asked.  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
Eggman decided to answer his curiosity. "Inuyasha, she was only trying to help. She is just a little girl. You can't be so rough with her."  
  
Inuyasha just said, "Feh!" and headed out the door.  
  
Omega looked from Inuyasha's disappearing figure to Cream, who was now holding Cheese close to her and was still choking back tears. "Scan shows that Inuyasha's blood pressure is higher than normal. This was triggered by the word 'Kikyo'. As for Cream, she will be fine. She has suffered no serious injuries, but the blow she suffered to the head will leave a big bruise."  
  
Knuckles raised himself from his sitting position. "Well, I would like to know why Inuyasha is so interested in this Kikyo person."  
  
Rouge stood up and said, "Knuckles, you shouldn't try and intrude into someone's personal life."  
  
Knuckles looked at her oddly. "Like you did when you tried to take the emerald from my island?"  
  
Rouge scowled. "Very funny. Haven't we already been through this?"  
  
Tikal sighed and held her head. "Here we go again."  
  
Chaos nodded. "I don't think that they'll ever get along."  
  
Kagome nodded. "I'm going to go and find Inuyasha."  
  
Tikal took hold of her make-shift crutch and managed to rise herself. "I'll come with you, if you don't mind. I want to get out and stretch my muscles."  
  
Kagome nodded and headed out the door with Tikal. Sonic and Chaos were not to far behind.  
  
********  
  
Inuyasha was sitting next to the God tree, his place of imprisonment for fifty years. He was thinking about what he had just heard. He just could not believe that Kikyo was working with Naraku now. It just wasn't possible. But, maybe he shouldn't have taken his anger out on the girl. Maybe he should swallow his pride and apologize to her. She just wanted to know a little more about him.  
  
Inuyasha heard some rustling in the bushes and drew his sword. "Who's there?" he asked.  
  
Kagome, Sonic, Tikal, and Chaos came out. Kagome approached him. "I just wanted to know if you were alright."  
  
Inuyasha nodded. "I'm fine."  
  
Tikal gathered a bit of courage and asked, "Inuyasha, why won't you open up to anyone?"  
  
Inuyasha looked at her with the same cold eyes he had given Cream before he shoved her. Chaos stepped in front of her to prevent anything from harming her, including Inuyasha.  
  
Inuyasha just turned away. "When you've been through as much as I have, you learn not to open up to anyone, because if you do, you and the people around you end up getting hurt."  
  
Chaos lowered his guard. Sonic regarded him with pity. "Listen, Inuyasha I'm sorry about trying to pry into your personal life."  
  
Inuyasha just shook his head. "Forget it."  
  
Just then, everyone saw something run by. Then, in front of them, a wolf demon appeared. "Kagome, my love! I found you!"  
  
Everyone sweatdropped at this. "Who's that?" asked Chaos.  
  
Inuyasha growled. "That is Kouga."  
  
Kagome waved in his direction, but she did not seem very thrilled to see him. "Hi Kouga."  
  
Kouga approached Kagome as he talked. "Kagome, if you come with me now, I can give you happiness and riches."  
  
Kagome was about to ask what he meant when he took out a blue jewel the size of a fist. Everyone gasped at the site. "That's a chaos emerald!" Sonic exclaimed.  
  
Kouga turned it around in his hand. "I thought this was just an ordinary jewel. Well, anyway, it is yours Kagome, if you come with me."  
  
Kagome shook her head. "I'm sorry, Kouga, but I have already told you that I still need to help my friends. I can't go with you."  
  
Kouga seemed disappointed, but he did not start acting violent. "Well, if you ever change your mind, or get tired of dog terd over there, you know were to find me."  
  
He turned to leave, but Sonic and Tikal blocked his way. Tikal was the first to speak, even with her leg in that condition. "Excuse me, but your speed back there when you made your entrance was very impressive."  
  
Kouga smirked. If this girls was trying to give him a big ego boost, she was doing a good job so far. "Well, thank you miss. You wouldn't happen to be trying to build up to something would you?"  
  
That last sentence seemed to be implying that Tikal was hitting on him and Chaos was not at all amused. But, he knew what she was doing, so he used all the will power that he had to restrain himself.  
  
Sonic smirked and crossed his arms. "She's asking you if you want to race me."  
  
Kouga regarded Sonic for a second. "Well, I see no reason why I couldn't indulge in a little race."  
  
Sonic walked forward. "There is just one condition. If I win, I want that emerald that you have in you hands there."  
  
Kouga nodded. "And what do I get if I win?"  
  
Kagome stepped forward and said, "If you win, I'll go with you."  
  
Kouga readily agreed. As Sonic and Kouga lined up at what would be the start and finish line, Kagome gave Sonic a 'you'd better win or I'll kill you' look.  
  
Sonic chuckled. "Great, no pressure."  
  
Chaos held his hand high. "The first one to get to Kaede's village and make it back here is the winner. This is just a friendly race, remember. No foul play and no short-cuts."  
  
They both nodded, understanding. Chaos dropped his arm and the two sped off.  
  
Inuyasha seemed worried. "Are you sure Sonic can win this?"  
  
Tikal smirked. "Don't worry. If I know Sonic, there is no way that he would ever let anyone beat him."  
  
********  
  
Rouge and Knuckles were currently having a sparring match. It was not over an argument. It was just so they could keep their skills up to par.  
  
Amy was inside making tea with Kaede and waiting for Sonic to return.  
  
Omega was watching some birds in a tree. He seemed fascentated by these smaller life forms. Cream and Cheese were watching them with Omega with curiosity only a child could possess.  
  
Eggman, Tails, Vector, Espio, Charmy, and Shadow were watching the sparing match with interest.  
  
Rouge threw a kick at Knuckles who blocked it with ease.  
  
Vector turned to Tails. "So, who do think will win?" he asked.  
  
Tails looked at his friend. "My money's on Knuckles."  
  
Espio shook his head. "I don't know. Rouge is throwing some pretty powerful kicks out there."  
  
Charmy giggled. "Not to mention she has an upper body that could throw Atlas for a loop."  
  
Eggman chuckled. "What have you been letting this kid watch?"  
  
Vector thought a second before saying, "Just the news."  
  
Eggman and Tails nodded as if that explained it all.  
  
They turned their attention back to the match. Knuckles had just managed to pin Rouge against the ground. "What's wrong Rouge? Caught between a rock and a hard place?" he asked.  
  
Rouge smirked. "More like the ground and a very, very soft place." Rouge brought her leg up in between Knuckles' legs. To her surprise, he didn't roll over as she had thought. He simply grunted. "Are you crazy? You never, ever kick a man there!"  
  
Rouge was about to say something when two blurs sped past them, causing the two to tumble over. The others looked in the direction that the blurs had gone. "What the hell was that?" asked Rouge.  
  
Eggman smirked, knowing that blur only too well. "That," he said, pointing after the blurs, "was Sonic."  
  
********  
  
Inuyasha, Kagome, Chaos, and Tikal were waiting at the finish line for the two racers. Inuyasha, with his keen vision was the first to see the two approaching. "Here they come."  
  
They all saw the blur approaching. Then they saw the blur stop right at the finish line. To everyone's discomfort and horror, Sonic was nowhere to be seen.  
  
Kouga, breathing heavily and smirking started walking towards Kagome. "I win."  
  
He was about to grab her when they heard someone say, "Hey slow-moe. What took you so long?"  
  
They all turned to see Sonic standing there. Kouga was speechless. There was no way that the hedgehog could have taken a shortcut, but he was sure he had been in the lead the whole time.  
  
Chaos seemed to smirk. "I was wondering when you would show yourself again."  
  
Everyone turned to Chaos. He looked back and said, "Don't tell me that you guys didn't see him cross the finish line five minutes ago."  
  
Kouga was mad to say the least. He growled as he, unwillingly, put the chaos emerald into Tikal's outstretched hand.  
  
He turned to Kagome and said, "I promise you, Kagome, I will return to win you another day."  
  
He sped off. Kagome sighed. "I'm glad that's over."  
  
Inuyasha scoffed. "Well, we got the damned emerald, so let's get out of here."  
  
Everyone nodded as the started off in the direction of the village. Kagome just had to ask, "Hey, Sonic, how did you get here before Kouga that fast anyway?"  
  
Sonic smirked. "I ran. How else?"  
  
_____________________________________________________________  
  
Well, new chapter. Sorry if it seemed like a long time, but I've been really tired as of late. But, I'm on vacation this week, so I'll have lots of time to get even more chapters up. I guess I'll see you then! R/R! 


	8. A girl named Kanna

HOLY CRAP! The new chapter has only been up for a day or so and I already have all these new reviews! Thanks to everyone who were kind enough to answer my questions about Kanna. I honestly had no idea who or what she was. Also, those of you who wanted to see Chaos and Omega have a bigger part in this story, you'll be happy to know that they are the stars of this chapter, along with Tikal. Now, on with the show!  
  
Chapter 7: A girl named Kanna  
  
Sonic and the others had returned and had retold the story of his race with Kouga to everyone. They were all thrilled to know about the second chaos emerald being obtained.  
  
They all noticed that the sun was starting to set, and everyone seemed to be getting rather tired. Inuyasha decided that it would be in his best interest to sleep on the roof tonight. There were to many life forms in the hut for his liking.  
  
Kagome and Shippo fell asleep near one of the windows of the hut and were very content with themselves at the moment. Sango and Kohaku were not to far away, sharing each other's warmth with each other for the first time in a long time.  
  
Miroku was sitting up against the wall, but he seemed to be asleep for the most part. Knuckles was in a similar position. Rouge had snuck up close to him after he had fallen asleep and was leaning against his shoulder.  
  
Sonic had taken refuge in the center of the floor with Amy clinging to him protectively. Tails, Cream, and Cheese were not to far away simply snoring the night away.  
  
Eggman had moved outside and fallen into an easy sleep in his egg walker. As for the Chaotix, they were sleeping on the grass around the mech. There was no room left for them in the cabin because of Big. That huge cat took up half the floor on his own.  
  
Omega, who required no sleep, simply stood outside the door, guarding his friends in a silent vigil.  
  
Tikal was sleeping contently on a futon near the fire with Chaos sitting next to her. Chaos was having trouble sleeping. It was not that he did not require sleep like Omega, because he did, he just did not need as much as the others.  
  
This lead to him being bored. Then, he looked down at the sleeping beauty next to him. He sighed. He had realized a long time ago that he was in love with Tikal, but he was very unsure if she returned his feelings. She could only be viewing him as a very good friend and not a potential lover.  
  
Once again his sighed. He thought about everything that had transpired since he had come to this dimension and what had happened back in his dimension. They had never really gone over that kind of stuff before. He was not even sure if he could kiss since he was lacking a visible mouth.  
  
Chaos brushed a strand of hair out of Tikal's face. She moaned slightly and rolled over. Then, Chaos felt a very disturbing presence around him somewhere. It just felt very strange and he could not describe it. It felt like something was there and yet... nothing was. It was a very odd feeling.  
  
Shaking this off, he decided that he needed to investigate. Chaos did not know what he was dealing with, so he grabbed one of the chaos emeralds out of Kagome's backpack where they were being stored for right now. Somehow, he felt that he might need one.  
  
Chaos crept as quietly as he was able over to the door and slid out. Being part water did have its advantages sometimes.  
  
Omega turned to see his friend there. "What are you doing Chaos?" he asked.  
  
Chaos was slightly startled and jumped a bit. He recovered and said, "Omega, I was unable to sleep and I felt a very disturbing presence somewhere around here. I need to go and see what is happening."  
  
Omega shook his head. "Negative. I have scanned the surrounding area many times searching for hostile life forms, but so far, I have not made contact with any."  
  
Chaos nodded. "That is my point. When I first felt this presence, I could tell that it was something, but at the exact same time, it felt like nothing at all. I can't really explain it any better than that."  
  
Omega nodded. "Understood. I shall accompany you and help you find out what that presence is."  
  
Chaos nodded again, glad to have someone with him.  
  
Then, the two heard someone say, "Were you two planning to go off somewhere and leave me behind?"  
  
Chaos and Omega turned to see Tikal standing there. That was not what surprised them. What surprised them was the fact that her leg was completely healed.  
  
She noticed that they were staring at her and she asked, "What?"  
  
Chaos pointed to her leg and said, "Y-your leg..."  
  
Chaos seemed at a loss for words, so Omega decided to finish his sentence for him. "Does not compute! It is illogical for any type of injury of that magnitude to heal in such a short time under medical attention."  
  
Tikal smirked. "Yeah, well, Kaede made me a special potion that fixed it right up. She even gave me the recipe and all of the plants needed to make it are on angel island."  
  
Chaos shook his head and got back to the task at hand. "Tikal, there is no need for you to be concerned. Omega and I are simply going to investigate an odd presence that I have sensed."  
  
Tikal looked thoughtful for a moment. "You mean the one that feels like something and nothing at the same time?" she asked with a bit of innocence.  
  
Omega seemed a little shocked that she knew about this. "Tikal, have you been evesdropping on us?"  
  
Tikal shook her head and began to shiver. "No. I've felt it to. That is what woke me up. There is no way I'm going to get any sleep with that kind of feeling around me."  
  
Chaos sighed. In his experience, there was no way to talk this girl out of something once she had her mind set on it. "Very well, Tikal. You may accompany us."  
  
Tikal gave a small sqeal of delight. She ran up quickly and gave Chaos a quick hug. This caused him to blush again. She always managed to do this to him for some reason.  
  
This did not go unnoticed by Omega and he quickly stored this in his memory banks for future references.  
  
The three, with nothing to go on but Chaos' innate sense of this presence, walked into the woods.  
  
Tikal was slightly frightened, as she had never been outdoors after dark. She was clinging to Chaos' arm. Then, she noticed that he was holding one of the chaos emeralds in his hand. "What are you doing with that?" she asked.  
  
Chaos followed her gaze to the chaos emerald that he was clutching. "I took this out of Kagome's backpack. I had a nagging feeling that I may need one."  
  
Omega nodded. "Very good forethought."  
  
Then, they heard a voice speak from behind them. "Yes, good forethought. You have just saved me the trouble of killing all of your friends for it."  
  
They all turned to see a girl standing there. Actually, it was very hard to tell if she was a girl or the ghost. She was white all over. White hair, white skin, and white cloths. She held a small hand-mirror in her hand. Her face held no emotion whatsoever. Even her voice, when she had spoken earlier, had held no sign of an emotion. It was just as blank and as white as her cloths.  
  
Chaos took a fighter stance and Tikal got behind him and Omega. "Who or what are you?" Chaos asked.  
  
The girl bowed, still showing no sign of any emotion. "Forgive my manners. Call me Kanna or, if you prefer, your killer."  
  
Omega beeped and showed signs of confusion. "Chaos, this does not compute! Even though I can see this life form identified as Kanna in front of me, I am not receiving any signals. I cannot find any body heat, heart beat, optical readings, or anything else. It is as if this creature is nothing more than an ectoplasmic spirit."  
  
Tikal clutched Chaos' shoulder. "Chaos, that strange presence that we felt earlier is practically leaking from her."  
  
Chaos nodded. This was the presence that had disturbed them earlier. Kanna nodded. "Yes, I am afraid that when master Naraku decided to spawn me, he did not really make me very complete. I was made from nothing, so therefore, I am nothing."  
  
Omega raised a claw, menacingly. "Subject is in league with Naraku, primary target. Subject must be terminated!"  
  
Omega thrust forward, attempting to impale Kanna on his claw. Kanna jumped backward. True to what she said, she still had no emotion. "Well, obviously you aren't going to just hand over that emerald. I really do hate to imply force when I am trying to retrieve somethen. But, Naraku said that he wants those emeralds and I can use any method nessicary to gain ownership over them."  
  
She gripped her mirror more firmly and raised it up so that Omega could clearly see his reflection. She chanted something that they could not understand. Then, nothing happned.  
  
The 'expression', if it could be called that, on Kanna's face remained the same as she tilted her head quizzically. "Odd... that spell should have allowed me to imprison your soul and take control over your body.  
  
Tikal smirked from behind Chaos. "Omega is a robot. Only living beings can have souls, Kanna. Omega, theoretically speaking, is not living, so he doesn't have a soul."  
  
Kanna nodded and looked at Tikal for the first time. Kanna's gaze sent shivers up and down Tikal's spine. "You are right. This 'robot' as you call it, obviously is lacking a biological body, and therefore, a soul. But you, my dear friend, are quite the opposite." Kanna disappeared in a puff of white smoke after she said those last few words.  
  
Chaos looked around. He could still sense that strange presence and so could Tikal. Omega was helpless for the moment. If he couldn't find her on his scanner and she was not in plain view, he was fair game for her.  
  
Tikal was worried by what she had said before she disappeared. Then, she felt a tap on her shoulder. On instinct, she circled around to come face to face with none other than Kanna's hand mirror.  
  
Before she could turn away, Kanna muttered the same incantation that she had said when she tried to take Omega's non-existing soul.  
  
There was a flash and Tikal hit the ground. Chaos cried out and knelt down beside her as Omega rushed to his friend's side. Chaos looked up from Tikal to Kanna who was looking at herself in her mirror. "You bitch! What have you done to Tikal?"  
  
Kanna lowered her mirror. "You really want to know? Then, you shall find out."  
  
Tikal's eyes suddenly opened. But, instead of those bottomless pools of beauty that Chaos had grown so fond of, he saw only a red rage. She shot up and took a swing at Chaos.  
  
Chaos jumped back and said, "What are you doing, Tikal?"  
  
Omega looked back at Kanna. "Chaos, it is the same spell that she attempted on me. Tikal's soul is now trapped inside that mirror and Kanna has complete control over every move that her body makes."  
  
Chaos registered this information as he jumped back after Tikal took another swipe at him. "Omega, see what you can do about that mirror and I'll try and restrain Tikal."  
  
Omega nodded. He knew that Kanna would never let him have the mirror of her own free will, so his only alternative would be to exert force on her. He extened the machine gun attachments on his arms and sent her a volley of lead.  
  
Kanna still held no emotions and raised her mirror. Omega thought that she was crazy. Her mirror would surely shatter as soon as his bullets made contact with it.  
  
Unfortunately, This did not happen. When the bullets made contact with the mirror, they bounced back from whence they came.  
  
Omega managed to sidestep them, but it was close. He realized now that this was no ordinary mirror that he was dealing with here.  
  
Chaos had his hands full. He didn't want to hurt Tikal, but she was attacking him relentlessly. Then, he realized that he would have to restrain her if he was ever going to talk some sense into her. In his current state, he had very little hope of stopping her. Then, he remembered the chaos emerald that he had in his possession.  
  
He absorbed it into his body. There was a flash of white. When everyone could see again, Chaos' right arm now had an odd bone structure in it and it was nearly three times the length that it was before.  
  
This did not go unnoticed by Kanna. She watched with interest. So much interest, she almost got hit in the face by Omega's fist. At the last second, she raised her mirror.  
  
Omega's fist impacted and he reeled back. It had actually felt like he had punched himself.  
  
Chaos reluctantly brought down his hand onto Tikal. She was now pinned against the ground. Chaos made a desprate call out to her. "Tikal please stop this! You don't know what your doing! Please try and remember who you are! Remember your friends! Remember... me."  
  
That last sentence seemed to do something. Tikal stopped struggling for a second. Kanna's mirror seemed to light on fire. She let go of it and stepped back a few paces, all while still keeping her emotionless and blank look.  
  
Chaos lifted his hand and forced the chaos emerald out of his body. His arm turned back to it's ordinary form. "Omega, the mirror, now!"  
  
Omega nodded and fired a missile at the mirror. Without Kanna holding it, it seemed to be nothing but an ordinary mirror. As soon as the missile made contact with the mirror, it split into millions of pieces.  
  
Tikal's eyes turned back from burning red to the old color that they were. She rubbed her head and stood up, rremebering everything that had happened.  
  
Kanna nodded, seeming to acknowledge the fact that she was beaten. "Well fought, my dear friends and worthy foes. But, I can guarentee that this will not be the last time that we meet." She disappeared in the same fashion that she had earlier.  
  
Omega nodded in approval. "Mirror target has been destroyed. Kanna can no longer be considered dangerous."  
  
Tikal was not very thrilled. She began to cry and ran over to Chaos, throwing her arms around him. "I'm so sorry, Chaos! I can't believe that I attacked you! Just please forgive me!"  
  
Chaos returned her embrace, but forced her to look at him. "Tikal, listen to me. I don't want you to go and blame yourself for this. You had no control over what had happened. I'm the one who should apologize for not stopping that bitch before she got to you. I promise that nothing like this will ever happen again. I... I love you."  
  
Tikal gasped. "You do?" she asked.  
  
Chaos nodded. "I'll understand if you just want to be friends. After all, I'm a water demon and you..."  
  
He had no chance to finish this thought as Tikal pressed her lips onto the spot where Chaos' mouth would be if he had one.  
  
Chaos had always wondered what it would feel like to get kissed. It felt good. It was true that he did not have a mouth, but he returned the feeling as best he could. He pressed back against her, letting her know that he was trying to kiss her back.  
  
Then, they broke off. Tikal giggled. "I love you too."  
  
Now it was Chaos' turn to be shocked. "You do?"  
  
Tikal rolled her eyes. "Didn't I already say that? Of course I do!"  
  
Tikal, Chaos, and a slightly amused Omega began the trek back to the village. Omega was still on the lookout for anything that may be hostile to them.  
  
Before they entered the village, Tikal said out of the blue, "You know, Chaos, your not a bad kisser for someone who doesn't have a mouth."  
  
Chaos blushed as they headed back into the hut where everyone was still sound asleep. Omega returned to his night post and continued his vigil over his friends and, he mused, a new romance couple.  
  
_____________________________________________________________  
  
Whew! What a chapter! But, I did get it done. Once again, thanks to everyone who sent me reviews describing Kanna and her abilities. Still, forgive me if her or any of her abilities are OOC. I did not really get any info on how she uses the mirror, if she just points it at them, or if she uses some sort of incantation. Anyway, that aside, I'm going to do a few chapters like this one, involving people going out and investigating stuff on their own and learning about other things, each other, and developing their love lives. They won't be one after the other, but be aware that long chapter like this one will be appearing every once in a while. R/R people! 


	9. We're on our way!

Yes, her I am with another new chapter. And in this one, they finally start traveling! Well, you didn't expect me to just let them stay at the village and let everything come to them, did you? Thanks to everyone who reviewed and told me of the talkative flaw that I made with Kanna's character. I apologize and I will try to correct that in future chapters. And, I am also glad that you guys are so supportive of the Tikal/Chaos pairing. Now, on with the story!  
  
Chapter 8: We're on our way!  
  
Naraku was pacing along the floor of his castle with a very annoyed look on his face. "Kanna, you have disappointed me. I told you to retrieve the chaos emeralds from those fools by any means nesiccary, and you come back empty-handed! What do you have to say for yourself?"  
  
Kanna simply bowed her head and dropped to her knees, knowing that Naraku made her and he could break her. "I'm sorry."  
  
Naraku shook his head. "Very well. You are forgiven. But, be forewarned that anymore foul-ups like this one will result in your instant termination."  
  
Kanna nodded and raised herself off of the ground. Naraku extended his hand and presented her with a mirror that was identical in every way to the one that Omega had destroyed.  
  
Kanna left the room without another word. Kagura was waiting for her. "Well, what did he do to you?" she asked.  
  
Kanna turned and looked at her 'sister'. "That is none of your buissness."  
  
Kagura gulped and let the subject drop. There was something about Kanna's glare that could silence her without any trouble at all.  
  
Back in his chambers, Naraku was sitting on a floor matt, plotting his next move. He had seriously underestimated those creatures from another world and he had not expected to befriend Inuyasha and his friends so easily. And, now that Kohaku was freed from his control, his options were even further limited.  
  
He would have to give this some good forethought. The blue and black ones seemed really competitive and were quite fast. Maybe he could use their abilities to move faster than the wind to his advantage. He spoke to one of his Samiosho. "Go and fetch Kagura for me. I have a job for her."  
  
********  
  
Everyone awoke early the next morning. With everything that had happened, Inuyasha had still managed to rouse everyone and get them ready to leave.  
  
Rouge noticed that Tikal seemed a little tired this morning. "Tikal, what is wrong with you? You look like something chewed you up and spat you out over and over again."  
  
Tikal gave a heavy yawn. "Sorry, I'm just very tired. I didn't really get very much sleep last night."  
  
Amy came up to her friend. "Did something happen last night?"  
  
Everyone gathered around, eager to hear the answer to the question. Tikal seemed to shy away from all of the attention that she was getting. Chaos stepped up and took her hand in his. "Tikal, I think that they have a right to know what happened last night."  
  
Tikal nodded. Chaos assisted her in relating the events of last night. They specifically left out the part about their love confession and their kiss.  
  
Miroku looked out to the forest. "So, Naraku must really be desperate for these emeralds if he is sending such powerful demons as Kanna after us."  
  
Shadow crossed his arms. "Is there anything else you would like to tell us about before we get killed?"  
  
Shippo thought for a second. "Well, let's see. There is Naraku, Kagura, Kanna, Kikyo, all of those minor demons that he has control over..."  
  
Sonic held up his hand. "You can stop there. I don't really want to know what else we are dealing with here."  
  
Cream shivered and held Cheese close. "It all sounds so scary."  
  
Big stepped up and put a hand on the frightened girl's shoulder, gently. "Don't worry. I'll be right here with you."  
  
Cream smiled up at the big cat. "Thank you, Mr. Big."  
  
Big chuckled. Inuyasha scoffed. "If we're all done being sissies, could we please get a move on?"  
  
Espio shook his head. "Inuyasha, your attitude will almost undoubtably be the end of you. Patients is a virtue."  
  
Charmy nodded. He was inclined to agree with Espio even though he had no idea what he was talking about. "Yeah, what he said."  
  
Inuyasha growled at the two. "Keep on preaching if you want to lose a few limbs."  
  
Vector stepped up to his teammates and cracked his knuckles. "Bring it on."  
  
Inuyasha was getting ready to rush them, when Kohaku stood in between him and the Chaotix. "Guys, the last thing that we need right now is a fight among each other. We have got to work together, or we're gonna be in serious trouble."  
  
Eggman nodded from his mech. "Yes, Kohaku is correct. Our unity will be the first step in defeating Naraku and reclaiming all of the chaos emeralds."  
  
Kagome walked up and put a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. "Their right, Inuyasha. If we keep this up, we're not going to get anywhere. Besides, if you keep this up, I'll say the word!"  
  
That last threat seemed to get Inuyasha to back off a bit. He backed off from the Chaotix, but still managed to give them a few dirty looks. Vector returned his look with a glare that said, "Anytime your ready."  
  
With distractions and all, they were off. For the first few minutes, nothing was said. Then, Amy broke the silence the only way a girl could (Forgive me, feminine readers, this joke was just to good to pass up (:). She said, "I'm bored."  
  
Tails sighed. "Amy, we've only been walking for about seven minutes."  
  
Omega beeped. "Actually, it has been aproximatly six minutes, fourteen seconds, and eighty mili-seconds."  
  
Sango turned around and looked at Omega. "Could you please stop doing that? It is really annoying that you are so precise all the time."  
  
Eggman shook his head. "Forgive me, Sango, but I was the one who programmed him like that. There is no way to keep him from doing that. You'd have a better chance of penetrating reinforced concrete."  
  
Sango sighed and turned back the way she had been walking.  
  
Sonic turned to Amy. "Amy, I'm sorry about you being bored, but there is nothing that we can do right now. Just try and deal with it for a while."  
  
Amy shook her head. "No, I won't! I need to find something to do now!"  
  
Shadow was getting rather annoyed. As calmly as he could, he turned to Amy and said in an eerily calm voice, "Amy, I can tell that not only am I annoyed by your whining, but Inuyasha is as well. If you refuse to stop complaining like a spoiled brat and shut your pie hole, the either me or him will do it for you."  
  
Amy gulped and shied away from Shadow after that. No more whining was heard from her from that point on.  
  
Big sniffed the air. "Mmm... I smell fish."  
  
Knuckles shrugged. "You would, wouldn't you?"  
  
Rouge shook her head and said, "No knuckles, I can smell it to. It's cooked fish."  
  
Sango confirmed this with her own nose. "Rouge and Big are right. Someone close to us is cooking fish."  
  
Everyone headed in the direction of the smell to come across a man leaning near a campfire, smoking some freshly caught fish.  
  
Sonic stepped out towards the man and said, "Hey there! Would you mind if me and my friends here had a bite of your fish?"  
  
The man looked at Sonic for a brief second before he took off running shouting, "Help! It's a demon! Help!"  
  
Sonic scratched his head. "But I'm not a demon."  
  
Miroku came and sat down by the fire. "They don't know that. They could just as easily assume that I was a demon because of the a rip in my hand."  
  
Everyone decided to have a sit-down and helped themselves to the fish that the man had left there. After that, Chaos said, "I suggest that we set up camp for right now."  
  
Normally, he would not stop this early into a trip, but he was concerned about Tikal. She and him had not gotten much sleep last night due to the incident with Kanna.  
  
Inuyasha did not like that idea. "We just started to travel! What makes you think that we should stop now?"  
  
Chaos motioned to Tikal, who had just let out a heavy yawn. "If you recall, some of us did not get much sleep last night."  
  
Inuyasha reluctantly agreed. Everyone hurriedly found a space to sleep.  
  
********  
  
Later that night, Knuckles was awoke by someone shaking him. He opened his eyes to see Rouge standing there. "What is it, Rouge?"  
  
Rouge took a few steps back and asked, "Could we go and talk in private?"  
  
Knuckles sighed, wondering what this was all about, but followed Rouge's lead. The walked for a minute before they found a small pond. Rouge sat down and motioned for Knuckles to join her. Knuckles was still clutching the master emerald tightly and his grip nearly doubled as he sat down next to Rouge. "What is this about?" he asked.  
  
Rouge looked down at the ground and asked, "Knuckles, why do you guard the master emerald like this?"  
  
Knuckles tilted his head and thought. "Well, the original idea that I convinced myself with was that it was my destiny, that I was born to do it."  
  
Rouge found the courage to look back at him. "What do you think you would be doing right now if you didn't have this duty?"  
  
Knuckles thought all of these questions were very strange. Then again, he couldn't really call them that because no one had ever asked him them before. "I would probably be down on solid ground."  
  
Then Rouge began to ask more personal questions. "I know for a fact that your lonely up on that island of yours. Exactly how many girls have you let on that island?"  
  
Knuckles thought again. "Counting you? Two. You and Tikal."  
  
Rouge blushed as she asked a question that she had been meaning to ask the whole time. "Then, have you ever been kissed or fallen in love before?"  
  
Knuckles did a double-take. "What?" he asked.  
  
Rouge gave him a ginuine smile and drew him closer to her. "Let me show you."  
  
Knuckles first instinct was to jerk away, but he stayed frozen to what was happening as Rouge's lips came closer...  
  
Closer...  
  
Closer...  
  
Contact. Knuckles felt her press her feather soft lips against his. Knuckles returned the kiss with full ferocity. Finally, after five minutes, they pulled apart because of lack of air.  
  
Rouge looked back at Knuckles and said, "I love you."  
  
Knuckles nodded. "I love you too. To tell you the truth, the only reason that I kept accusing you of stealing the master emerald was because, well I was afraid of getting close to you. I was afraid that I would hurt you and me."  
  
Rouge shook her head. That is a sweet thought, just don't do it anymore, okay?"  
  
Knuckles nodded and he placed his hand that held the master emerald on her palm. She tilted her head as if to ask why.  
  
Knuckles chuckled. "If you really love me, then I can finally trust you with this jewel. You're the only jewel that I want in my life from now on."  
  
Rouge smiled and kissed him again.  
  
******** Omega looked around the camp. All seemed tranqil. He had noticed that Knuckles and Rouge had slipped away, but he did not want to disturb them. He knew that they were dealing with a private matter.  
  
He looked over his companions. Tikal and Chaos were laying side by side, wrapped in each other's arms. Inuyasha was asleep in a tree with his arms hanging over the side. Sonic was snoring loudly while Amy continued to cling to him. Tails was next to Cream and Cheese and she seemed to be snuggling with his two tails. Shadow was curled up in a fetal position, possibly lost in a nightmare. Kagome was in one of her sleeping bags with Shippo. Miroku was leaning against a tree, Indian style. Sango, Kirara and Kohaku were laying just out of range of Miroku's wandering hand. Eggman was asleep in his mech and the Chaotix were sleeping near him.  
  
Then, Omega turned to Big. The giant cat was clutching his favorite fishing pole protectively. Then, Omega noticed something wrong. Big was laying there without Froggy!  
  
Omega quickly rushed over and shook the cat. Big grunted and opened his eyes. "Is it time for fishing?" he asked dumbly.  
  
Omega shook his head. "Negative. Big, sensors indicate that subject identified as Froggy is missing."  
  
This got Big's attention. Jumping up, he said, "Oh no! My pal! Please tell the others that I went to look for my friend. I'll be back soon! Bye-bye!  
  
Big ran as fast as he could out of the clearing they were in, in frantic search of his friend. Omega calculated in his head, "Chances of finding a lone frog alone in this time: Sub-optimal. Good luck... friend, Big."  
  
_____________________________________________________________  
  
Sorry if nothing interesting happened this time around, but I'm saving that for the next chapter. Also, I apologize if the Rouge/Knuckles romance came out a little to quick, but I'm just working with so many pairings here, I had to get at least one out of the way. Well, R/R and I'll get the next chapter up soon! 


	10. Where are they!

Okay, new chapter, thank you for the reviews, all the standard stuff. I just don't have anything to say here, not even a rant! Anyway, this chapter has been inspired by one of the many scenarios that I have been receiving over the past few weeks. Well, here it goes. Remember, your support and suggestions are always appreciated!  
  
Chapter 10: Where are they?  
  
Big was walking in an aimless direction, calling out for Froggy at the top of his voice. "Froggy, where are you?" he shouted.  
  
He kept this up for some time. He felt his legs begin to tire. Sitting down for a second, he drew his lucky fishing pole. "Who could have done this? Froggy would never run away on his own. We're to good of friends for that."  
  
Big sat, pondering this, when he heard something in the bushes. "Hello? Is that you, Froggy?"  
  
He looked on as a small girl, not even a third of his size stepped out of the bushes. Big's ears drooped. "Sorry. I thought you were my pal, Froggy. Who are you?"  
  
The girl gulped as she looked up at the big purple cat. "M-my name is Rin."  
  
Big stood up, making himself look even more intimidating to this small girl that stood near him. "Hi! My name is Big. I'm looking for my lost friend, Froggy. Have you seen him?" Rin shook her head. "No, I haven't. I don't know what he looks like."  
  
Big looked at the small girl. "What are you doing here? You look to young to be here on your own."  
  
Rin's eyes filled with tears. "I was separated from master Sesshomaru. I don't know where I am."  
  
Rin burst into tears. It was obvious that she was scared. Big knelt down and gave her a small hug. "Don't worry. I'll help you find Mr. Shessomaru."  
  
Rin dried her tears. "You will?" she asked.  
  
Big nodded. "Sure. Maybe I'll even find Froggy somewhere."  
  
The two started to travel together, each hoping to find someone who they had lost.  
  
********  
  
Sesshomaru was traveling at a much faster speed than usual. Normally, he would simply start off at a moderate pace, but something was different this time. Rin was missing.  
  
Jaken was making a miserable attempt to keep up with his lord. "Lord Sesshomaru, why must we travel at such a rigorous pace?"  
  
Sesshomaru looked back at his struggling lackey. "Jaken, do not questing the pace that I set. Rin has been missing for a while and I want her found."  
  
Sesshomaru would never consciously show it, but he was very worried for Rin's safety. She was just a child lost in a world that was purged by demons of every sort.  
  
Then, he noticed something in his path. It was an odd frog with large eyes. Jaken was thankful that he was finally able to stop for a second, but he knew that his master wanted this filthy frog out of the way. "Get away, you stupid frog. Get out of our path or be roasted alive!"  
  
Jaken brandished his staff threateningly. Sesshomaru held up his hand. "Wait, Jaken. I can sense an odd energy coming from this frog. It may have something to do with Rin's disappearance. Let us follow him and see where he leads us."  
  
The frog hopped off in the opposite direction that he had come. Sesshomaru quickly followed suit. Jaken sighed. "I just hope that your affections for this human girl will not cloud you mind." He hurried off after his master.  
  
********  
  
Rouge woke up feeling very refreshed. She saw Knuckles lying right beside her. They had fallen asleep right beside the lake where they had confessed their true feelings for each other.  
  
Rouge shook Knuckles gently. "Wake up, sleepy head."  
  
Knuckles moaned as his eyes fluttered open, trying to shake the last remnants of sleep away.  
  
Knuckles smiled. "Good morning, my love. I hope you slept well?"  
  
Rouge giggled and nodded. How could I not? You were right next to me."  
  
They both kissed. Rouge handed him the master emerald, which he had entrusted to her for the night. He looked it over. "Well, this is good. It's still here and all in one piece. Good work, Rouge."  
  
Rouge smirked and stood up. "We should probably start heading back to camp, Knuckles. The others may start to worry about us if we stay away much longer."  
  
Knuckles nodded. "Fine, we'll go back. But what are we going to tell them?"  
  
Rouge was about to answer, when a low rumble was heard. "How about I tell them that you died and I took that lovely emerald from you?"  
  
They both looked out to the lake to see an odd creature standing on the bank nearest to them. It was about twice their height and was just as blue as the lake that it stood by. Its arms were burly and strong, but it had no legs. Instead, there was a serpent tail. It's eyes were not very welcoming as they held no color whatsoever. He smirked, revealing a row of long, fang- like teeth.  
  
Knuckles handed the jewel to Rouge and clenched his fists. "Who the hell are you?"  
  
The creature responded, "The bringer of your death. I want that jewel to add to my already increased power."  
  
Rouge remembered something Kagome had said to her. "Knuckles, I think that this demon may have a shard of the Shikon jewel in it."  
  
Knuckles nodded and charged the creature. It responded by flicking its tail at Knuckles.  
  
Knuckles dodged and drove his fist right into the creature's skull. A shard popped out and the demon was reduced to nothing but a pile of bones.  
  
Rouge walked up and picked up the jewel shard. "I think Kagome and her friends will be wanting this."  
  
Knuckles nodded as the two started off in the direction of the camp.  
  
********  
  
Everyone awoke back at the camp. They soon noticed that a few of their allies were missing. Miroku looked at Omega. "I am aware that you do not require sleep, Omega. Do you know where the Knuckles, Rouge, Big, and Froggy have gone?"  
  
Omega nodded. "Affirmative. Froggy was missing last night, so Big set out in search of his lost companion. As for Knuckles and Rouge, they headed down to a nearby lake exactly..."  
  
Miroku cut him off. "Please, no more precise stuff!"  
  
Omega nodded. "Understood. They have been there for a majority of the night and should be returning shortly."  
  
Amy put a finger to her chin. "I wonder what they were doing out there."  
  
Tails smirked. "I have a few ideas."  
  
Everyone looked to the fox. Shadow frowned. "Tails, that is not the kind of image that I want implanted in my memory."  
  
Everyone heard a chuckle behind them and turned to see Knuckles and Rouge standing there. Rouge smiled at Tails. "Well, we didn't have sex, if that is what your thinking."  
  
Knuckles nodded. "Nope, no sex. Just good clean making out."  
  
Kagome smiled them. "I'm very happy for you both."  
  
Inuyasha snorted. "If you ask me, they were better off when they were kicking each other's asses."  
  
Sonic looked at Inuyasha with a small smirk on his face. "Inuyasha, I think your jealous."  
  
Inuyasha turned away. "Why would I be jealous of an egg-laying ant-eater and a bat that could make a wolf howl until he was horse?"  
  
Kagome frowned at him. "Inuyasha, can't you just be happy for them?"  
  
Tikal nodded. Chaos spoke in a low whisper to Tikal, "You know, I think Sonic may be right. Inuyasha may just be jealous because he has no one to share his emotions with."  
  
Tikal nodded again. "Yes, you may be right. He just seems so pent up about getting close to anyone. I wonder why."  
  
They had forgotten how good Inuyasha's hearing was. "To answer your question, Tikal, getting attached means getting hurt."  
  
Tikal and Choas blushed at having their conversation found out.  
  
Eggman cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt this interesting conversation, but we should probably look for Big. He isn't really the brightest bulb in the bunch and I fear for his safety."  
  
Sango nodded. "That would be a good idea. From what I observed, Big is way to laid back and a demon could easily take advantage of him."  
  
Kohaku looked over to the ground. "Look over hear. I think Big took off that way."  
  
Vector took another look at the tracks as Kohaku motioned towards the woods. He nodded. "Good work, kid. You'd make a good detective."  
  
Kohaku blushed a bit and rubbed the back of his head.  
  
They all heard someone laugh at them. They all turned to see Kagura standing there. Espio looked to her with extreme distaste. "So, we meet again, Kagura."  
  
Kagura nodded, eyeing the chameleon. "Yes, but I am not here to have another tussle with you. I am here for a challenge with those two."  
  
She pointed at Sonic and Shadow who characteristically crossed their legs. Shadow was the first to speak. "Give us one good reason why we should waste our time and energy fighting you"  
  
Kagura grinned and held up two glowing gems. "I think that I have something that you want."  
  
Sonic's eyes widened. "Great! She has two chaos emeralds."  
  
Shadow turned to the others. "Kagome, throw us the chaos emeralds!"  
  
Kagome complied and reached into her backpack and threw the two hedgehogs the two chaos emeralds that they posessed.  
  
After the two caught the emeralds, Sonic yelled, "Listen! We're not sure what this chick has up her sleeves, so everyone get away from here and see if you can find Big and froggy!"  
  
Everyone seemed to support this idea except Inuyasha. "I'm not gonna let you guys have all the fun."  
  
Inuyasha was about to jump forward before Chaos put a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. "Inuyasha, This is not your fight. She has specifically challenged Sonic and Shadow. We have no power over this event now. Besides, they will be fine. They each have a chaos emerald anyway.  
  
Inuyasha was about to brush Chaos's hand off when Cream came up. "Mr. Inuyasha, please don't try and fight her. She wants to fight with Mr. Sonic and Mr. Shadow. I don't think that we should get involved."  
  
Inuyasha reluctantly backed down. The group turned and ran off leaving Sonic, Shadow, and Kagura.  
  
Shadow eyed the woman. "So, what did you have in mind for this challenge?"  
  
Kagura smiled. "It is simple really. All you have to do is defeat me in combat using only attacks that are channeled through the chaos emeralds. You are allowed to dodge and block the attacks any way you see fit, but all other attacks are off limits. If you win, I'll give you these chaos emeralds. If you lose, I want the two that you possess. Sound fair?"  
  
Shadow looked over at Sonic. "Heh. Sounds fair to me."  
  
Shadow nodded. "Very well. We accept your challenge."  
  
Kagura grinned. 'These fools are practically handing me the emeralds on a silver platter!'  
  
She was thrust out of her thoughts as Sonic and Shadow charged at her in unison. And the battle began. 


	11. A fight, a finding, and control

Alright, this is another pretty quick update, I know. This is a chapter I have been waiting to write. This one will show just what the bad guys are capable of doing with the chaos emeralds. It also adds another twist to the plot later on. Anyway, I'll stop talking so you'll start reading.  
  
Chapter 11: A fight, a finding, and a corruption  
  
Sonic was quick to think. "Shadow, let's just use a chaos control and take her out."  
  
Shadow shook his head. "Sonic, we can't do that. When we use chaos control, we have to consentrate to keep ourselves in the time warp. During that time, we can't use other chaos attacks and she said that those are the only attacks we are allowed to use. Don't you have a sense of honor?"  
  
Sonic thought for a bit. "I must have left it back in our world."  
  
Shadow shook his head and raised his emerald. "We will just have to rely on our speed and our chaos energy for this one."  
  
Sonic nodded and jumped out of the way as Kagura finished her charge. He turned around and shouted, "Sonic Wind!"  
  
A large whirlwind of blue energy shot towards Kagura. She smirked and shouted, "Chaos shield!"  
  
A gray shield materialized in front of her. Sonic's attack simply disappeared as soon as it hit the shield. Sonic just stared. "What the hell just happened?"  
  
Shadow looked on. "It appears that she can utilize the power of the chaos emeralds for defense instead of offense."  
  
Kagura giggled as she lowered her shield. "Thank you for noticing. But, defense is not all that these gems are good for. Chaos breeze!"  
  
A large whirlwind similar to Sonic's blew towards them. They dodged as it neared them.  
  
Shadow decided to use this opportunity to go on the offensive. "Chaos spear!"  
  
The orange bolts of energy sped towards the wind demon with extreme force. She shielded herself as best she could with her arms. The attack impacted her and she connected with a nearby tree. "Why couldn't I bring up my shield?" she asked.  
  
Sonic was happy to answer that. "Chaos attacks may take energy from the emeralds, but it also takes a bit of your own energy. You need to wait a few minutes in between each attack before you can perform it again.  
  
Kagura growled. "Damn it! If that is what it takes to use these freaking things, then I'll just use my own methods!"  
  
She raised herself and threw a blast of wind at the two hedgehogs. Sonic gave Shadow a questioning look. "Didn't she say that you could only use chaos attacks?"  
  
Shadow smirked. "Yes, but she didn't know about the time it took to recharge. Even so, I think that we can consider her the loser."  
  
Shadow lunged at her. He cut through her wind attack with ease. She dodged as he neared her. Then, she felt Sonic impact her from behind. The impact caused her to drop one of her chaos emeralds. Shadow swooped in and grabbed it.  
  
After she recovered, Kagura looked at the two with malice. "I'll get you two for this. You will regret the day that you..."  
  
Sonic smirked as he cut her off. "your lips are moving but all I hear is shhh."  
  
Kagura's face went red as she disappeared. Shadow frowned. "She still has one of the chaos emeralds."  
  
Sonic looked at his friend. "Well, at least we have one of them. That gives us a total of three. Let's go and catch up with the others."  
  
Shadow nodded as the two headed off.  
  
********  
  
Inuyasha and the others were still following Big's trail. Then, Kohaku noticed something. "Hey, guys. There is another set of tracks alongside these ones."  
  
Everyone noticed that he was right. There was another set of tracks there, but they were smaller than his. Much smaller.  
  
Inuyasha sniffed the tracks. "Isn't anyone that I recognize."  
  
Omega looked off to the east. "Sensors indicate that there is a figure out there. It is in possession of a powerful artifact."  
  
Eggman nodded. "I'll check this out. The rest of you, see if you can find Big."  
  
Everyone nodded as Eggman stomped off in his egg walker.  
  
The others continued on their way.  
  
********  
  
Rin was clinging to Big. He was glad that she trusted him. It was not very often that someone would trust him in this era. He decided to ask her about this Sesshomaru person. "So, who is this Sesshomaru?"  
  
Rin looked up at him. "Well, he is a big demon. He saved my life and was kind enough to let me travel with him. I was an orphan."  
  
Big looked down at her with sympathy. Then, she asked, "Well, I've answered your question. Who is Froggy?"  
  
Big looked back to the path before answering. "Well, he is a frog. We've always been friends. Forever it seems."  
  
Rin looked at him oddly, but she shook the feelings off. Just then, a frog hopped across their path. Big recognized the frog instantly. "FROGGY!"  
  
Big went towards him. Froggy jumped up into Big's arms, glad to be with his lifelong friend again.  
  
Then, a large man with hair similar to Inuyasha's stepped out of the foliage. This time, it was Rin's turn to recognize the figure. "Master Sesshomaru!" she shouted as she ran to him. Jaken watched with disgust as she embraced Sesshomaru.  
  
Shesshomaru laid a hand on the girl's head. "It is good to see you safe and sound Rin."  
  
Rin turned to Big. "He protected me, Sesshomaru."  
  
Sesshomaru looked to the cat. "You are the personelle who kept Rin's well- being up to par?"  
  
Big tilted his head and asked, "What?"  
  
Sesshomaru took another look at the cat. He carried a giant umbrella and a fishing pole along with the frog that had led them here. But it was obvious that he was not the most intelligent creature in the world. He decided to simplify what he had just said. "Are you the one who kept Rin safe?"  
  
Big nodded. Froggy jumped up on his friend's head. "Yes I am. And now, I need to go back to my friends."  
  
It was at that instant that Big found that he didn't remember where his friends were.  
  
"Is there something wrong?" Sesshomaru asked.  
  
Big nodded. "I can't remember where my friends are."  
  
Sesshomaru seemed to think for a second. "Very well. I shall allow you to accompany my friends and I until we find yours. Do you accept my offer?"  
  
Big considered for a second. "Okie-dokey! I'll come with you."  
  
Sesshomaru nodded and started to walk off with Rin close behind. Big followed them with Froggy on his head. Jaken followed after, bringing up the rear. He did not exactly trust this giant purple cat.  
  
********  
  
Eggman tromped through the forest towards the location that Omega had designated as the place where someone had a big power source.  
  
He entered a clearing to see an odd man standing there holding a silver jewel. The man was wearing the skin of a baboon. Eggman recognized him from the description the Chaotix gave him. "Naraku, I presume?"  
  
Naraku nodded and turned to him. "Yes. It is nice to finally meet you face to face Dr. Eggman."  
  
Eggman smirked. "It is nice to see that you have heard of me."  
  
Naraku nodded. "Yes. I know much about you. Such as the fact that you were once one of the most feared being in your world."  
  
Eggman frowned, but nodded. "It is true that I was once a madman with no other purpose in life other than world domination. But, after several failed attempts, all foiled by Sonic, I decided to change my ways and better mankind."  
  
This time Naraku frowned. "As they say, a heart can always change back to what it was."  
  
As he said these words, he held up the emerald and a shard of the jewel. Eggman watched as he transferred chaos energy into the shard. Then, he flicked it in Eggman's general direction.  
  
Eggman had no time to dodge as the shard embedded itself in his forehead. He cried out in pain as he felt the tainted energy began to run through his system. He tried as best he could to fight it, but his mind was slowly being taken over.  
  
Finally, he could not resist any longer and gave in to the dark energy.  
  
Naraku smirked as he watched. "He lasted longer than I thought, but he is now mine."  
  
_____________________________________________________________  
  
Oh, a cliffhanger! Sorry that the fight scene was less than desirable. I just was not in a very fighty mood today. Anyway, that is all for now and the next chapter will be up probably tonight, tomarrow, or the next day. 


	12. Evil reborn

Okay, here I am with another chapter. I don't have anything to say again, so I'll just get right to the story. Oh, and thanks for all the support again!  
  
Chapter 12: Evil is reborn  
  
Naraku was looking at his newest minion of evil. He spoke to him with a grin on his face. "What is your name?"  
  
Eggman said, "I am doctor Robotnik, the greatest scientific mind in the world."  
  
Naraku nodded before continuing. "What is your purpose?"  
  
Eggman replied, "To eliminate that blue hedgehog and all of his friends."  
  
Naraku nodded for the final time before saying, "Very good. Go forth, my minion and destroy them."  
  
Eggman said nothing and simply made his mech lumber off.  
  
Naraku was about to walk off when Kagura appeared behind him. He acknowledged her presence by saying, "Ah, Kagura. Show me the fruits of your labor. You did succeed, correct."  
  
Kagura fidgeted with her kimono and gulped. "Well, uh... that is, I, uh..."  
  
Naraku was losing his patients. "Spit it out!"  
  
This outburst caused Kagura to blurt out, "I lost and they managed to take one of the chaos emeralds from me."  
  
She closed her eyes and waited for the enevitable beating that awaited her. Then, she felt something strike her hard in the face.  
  
She tumbled backward and landed on the ground. She opened her eyes to see Naraku looking down at her with a very angry look on his face. "How could you let this happen?! This means that they now possess three of the emeralds and we only have two. I'm warning you Kagura, one more foul-up like this and I'll be sending you six feet under!"  
  
She got up, but continued to stare at the ground. Naraku continued to talk. "Now, I want you to report back to the castle and wait there. I will be there in a while. I want to see how our new weapon is doing."  
  
Naraku disappeared, leaving Kagura standing there. She spoke through clenched teeth. "Yes, master Naraku."  
  
She began to walk off with tears threatening to fall fro her eyes. She longed for a day when she would be able to leave Naraku for good and simply live her own life. She wished with every fiber of her being to be as free as the wind.  
  
Then, she had an idea. There was someone who could help her. The older brother of Inuyasha, Sesshomaru. She summoned the wind and began to fly off in search of her desired target.  
  
Sonic and Shadow had been walking for about an hour now. They could not find the others anywhere. Shadow was getting annoyed. "Sonic, how could you get us lost out here in the wilderness like this?"  
  
Sonic turned back to his fellow hedgehog. "Shadow, I didn't do this on purpose. Besides, not only do we have three chaos emeralds, we also have a piece of the shikon jewel to."  
  
Shadow frowned. "That's what worries me. Kagome said that demons are often attracted to large sources of power, in other words, the shikon jewel shards."  
  
Sonic scratched the back of his head. "Gee, I guess I hadn't thought of that."  
  
Shadow crossed his arms. "I would have been really surprised if you had even considered it."  
  
Sonic growled and was just about to make a smart comment when he heard something close to them. "Listen. I think I hear Eggman's mech over there."  
  
Shadow listened and nodded. "Yeah, that is definitely his. I'd know that mechanical crunch anywhere."  
  
They both raced off in the direction that they had heard the sound. They soon came across a clearing where Eggman was standing. His back was facing them.  
  
Sonic was the first to speak. "Yo, Eggman! We've been looking for you."  
  
Eggman laughed and brought the front of his mech out so they could clearly see his face. "What a coincidence. I've been looking for you was well."  
  
Eggman launched a few rounds from his machine gun. The landed a few inches from Sonic and Shadow, making them jump back."  
  
Shadow raised an eyebrow and shouted, "What the hell is wrong with you, Eggman?"  
  
Eggman scowled. "Silence, you impudent beast! I am Dr. Robotnik, the greatest scientific mind in the world. I shall obliterate you and anyone else who gets in my way!"  
  
Sonic pointed an accusing finger at Eggman. "So, your back to being the rotten egg you always were?"  
  
Shadow put a hand on Sonic's shoulder. "Sonic, there is something different about the doctor. Look at his eyes behind the glasses. You can faintly see a red glow behind them."  
  
Sonic squinted and saw that Shadow was right. "Yeah, and, come to think of it, his forehead seems kinda bulged."  
  
Shadow's eyes snapped open in realization. "Sonic, do you remember how Naraku used a shard of the shikon jewel to control Kohaku?"  
  
Sonic nodded. Then, it suddenly donned on him what Shadow was getting at. "Do you think that Naraku put a shard in him?"  
  
Shadow nodded. "That seems to be the most logical reason that I can think of. The doctor would have never gone back to his old was in this situation. He had gotten so close to us countless times after he changed his ways, he could have easily destroyed us then."  
  
Eggman launched another round of lead at Sonic and Shadow. "If you two are done talking, I have a agenda to keep here."  
  
Sonic and Shadow took a fighter stance. Shadow looked at his grinning friend. "Remember, aim for his forehead and try to keep your attacks non- lethal."  
  
Sonic's grin widened. "Don't worry. I wouldn't try and kill him... not on purpose anyway."  
  
Shadow sighed as they both charged at Eggman in unison.  
  
Sesshomaru had been walking for quite a while with his newfound traveling companions. Rin had been talking ecstatically to the cat known as Big and his friend Froggy. She really seemed to take a liking to him.  
  
Sesshomaru had never really seen a demon like him. There weren't very many out there who would go out of their way to protect a helpless human girl. "Big, why did you protect Rin when she was separated from me?" he asked.  
  
Big turned to Sesshomaru. "Well, she was all alone and scared. I couldn't just leave her there. I thought she would feel better with someone with her."  
  
Sesshomaru nodded. "I didn't know that a demon of your kind would go out of their way to protect a human, let alone a child."  
  
Big's ears drooped. "I'm not a demon. I'm a Mobian."  
  
Sesshomaru was about to ask a few more questions, when he saw someone flying towards them. He flexed his claws. "Rin, stay back."  
  
Rin complied and hid behind big, who sensed that something was about to happen and drew his fishing pole.  
  
The figure landed in front of them. Sesshomaru recognized her. He had seen her before. "Hello, Kagura."  
  
Kagura curtseyed and said, "It is good to see you, Sesshomaru. I have a favor to ask of you."  
  
Sesshomaru eyed her suspiciously. "And why should I even listen to you when you're a servant to Naraku?"  
  
Kagura sighed. "That is just what I wanted to ask you. Please help me kill Naraku. I long for my freedom more than anything else and as long as he is alive, I will never be free."  
  
Sesshomaru seemed to be considering. Big jumped up to her. "Don't worry, I'll help you!"  
  
She looked at the oversized cat. "A friend of yours?"  
  
Sesshomaru nodded. "He protected Rin when she was lost. Very well. If Big thinks that it is worthwhile to help you, then I shall to. Let's go Jaken, Rin, Big."  
  
Jaken nodded his head, Rin gave a small salute, and Big said, "Okie-dokey!"  
  
Thus, the five set out in search of the evil demon."  
  
Inuyasha and the others were headed in the direction that Big's tracks went. Then, they suddenly split in two different directions. Tails scratched his head. "Well, this is interesting."  
  
Kohaku pondered this situation. "Well, it is impossible for a living being to go in two directions at once, so one set of tracks must be a fake."  
  
Miroku walked up. "But who could copy someone else's footprint?"  
  
Rouge turned to Omega. "Omega, scan these sets of footprints and see if you can determine which set belongs to the real Big."  
  
Omega made a few beeping sounds before saying. "Negative. I cannot determine which set is fake. They are both are completely identical."  
  
Knuckles shook his head. "But this is impossible. Big can't be in two places at once."  
  
Inuyasha growled. "Let's just split up and head in two different directions. That way, we'll be sure to find him."  
  
Sango didn't seem too sure about that plan. "Are you sure that it is wise to split up like this?"  
  
Kagome looked at the tracks again. "Well, it looks like we may not have a choice."  
  
After a bit of debating, it was decided that Sango, Kirara, Tails, Miroku, Cream, Cheese, and Kohaku would follow one set of tracks and Inuyasha, Kagome, Knuckles, Omega, Rouge, Vector, Charmy, Espio, Amy, Chaos, Tikal, and Shippo would follow the other."  
  
Kagome took one last look at the shrinking forms of their companions. "Good luck!" she shouted. "I hope that they'll be all right."  
  
Inuyasha snorted. "Feh. They'll be fine. Although I don't see why I had to get stuck with all the whiney ones, including you."  
  
Inuyasha had just remembered the power that Kagome held over him. "Inuyasha, SIT!"  
  
Inuyasha met the ground with very unpleasant force.  
  
There, another chapter has been completed. They're just breaking apart bit by bit aren't they? What kind of havoc will be unleashed in the battle to free Eggman's mind? Will Big, Sesshomaru, and the others find Naraku first? And which set of tracks were the correct ones? I don't know, but I will by the time the next chapter rolls around. R/R people! 


	13. A new romance

Sorry if it seems like I haven't updated in awhile, but My studies have been cutting into my social life like a knife through limburger cheese. But, now that it is the weekend, I have plenty of time to catch up with my cyber life. Now, I present to you: the next chapter of 'Of Emeralds and Demons'!  
  
PS: I have also been busy starting a new fic for Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. If you have time, you might want to check it out.  
  
Chapter 13: A new romance arises  
  
Shadow curled into a ball and launched himself at Eggman. He easily sidestepped the attack. "You fool! I have seen that attack so many times, what good do you think it will do against me?"  
  
Sonic jumped up into the cockpit of Eggman's mech. He aimed a punch at Eggman's head. He was caught offguard when Eggman grabbed the punch. "What the hell is this?" Sonic exclaimed.  
  
Eggman laughed as he threw Sonic out of the cockpit and through a tree!  
  
Shadow jumped towards Sonic and gave him a lift up. "Sonic, are you alright?"  
  
Sonic groaned as Shadow lifted him to his feet. He started to speak sarcastically. "Oh yeah, I feel fine. I only got thrown by a big fat guy through a huge tree!"  
  
Shadow shook his head. "That's a yes. But how did Eggman gain all that power?"  
  
Sonic suddenly realized something. "Shadow, remember what Kagome said about the jewel?"  
  
Shadow nodded, realizing what Sonic was getting at. "Yes, the jewel shards have the ability to increase a person's strength by nearly fifty times normal."  
  
Sonic nodded at his friend's analysis. "Yeah, and that has got to be the case with our friend here."  
  
Eggman looked over to them. "If you two ladies are done talking, I am ready to start kicking your asses!"  
  
Sonic and Shadow took a fighter stance. They looked at each other. Shadow asked, "Do you think we'll have enough energy left to attempt any chaos attacks?"  
  
Sonic smirked. "We won't know until we try. You ready?"  
  
Shadow nodded. He pulled out a chaos emerald. "I hope this works. CHAOS CONTROL!"  
  
Shadow felt the energy of the emerald's energy flow around him, through him. He saw time freeze around him. He looked to Eggman who looked very surprised look on his face, and then to Sonic who had his trademark smirk on and was giving Shadow the thumbs up symbol.  
  
Shadow put on his own smirk. "This is the ultimate!" he shouted, rushing at Eggman. He knew that he couldn't go for the forehead right now. He wouldn't have enough time. The most he could do would be to take out the mobility of the mech.  
  
He curled up into a ball and launched at the mech's leg. The impact caused it to shatter into a bunch of different pieces. Shadow felt the power from the emerald leave him and he felt tired. Once again, the time-space continuim started to take its natural speed around him.  
  
He could hear Eggman shout out obscenities about his mech's leg. Sonic came up as his friend fell to his knees. Sonic looked at him in concern. "Are you alright?" he asked.  
  
Shadow nodded and said, "Make a mental note. From now on, I should never use Chaos control to many times during the same hour. It takes to much out of me."  
  
The both started to laugh at their own conversation. They were interrupted by Eggman. "You two fools think this is over? Hah! This is just the beginning!"  
  
Sonic sighed. "Let's just get that thing out of his head so we can find the others."  
  
Shadow nodded. "I agree. He is getting rather annoying, isn't he?"  
  
They both started to charge at him. Shadow had his chaos emerald ready just in case a dire need arose.  
  
Eggman smirked. "This isn't the end!" he shouted.  
  
Sonic wondered what he meant when he suddenly felt a pain in his neck. He felt very groggy. He fell to the ground and blacked out.  
  
Shadow looked over at his friend who was now on the ground. "What the hell?"  
  
Before he could say more, he felt a twinge in his neck similar to what Sonic had felt earlier. He looked down at it to see a small red dart embedded in his neck. It wasn't deep, but he guessed that it served a different purpose.  
  
He felt his neck go numb. He managed to angle his head so that he could see Eggman. He was smirking and he had a small dart gun in his hand. He blew into the dart gun again. This time, the dart embedded itself in Shadow's arm.  
  
Shadow could feel his right arm go numb. He could no longer move it, but for some reason, he was still holding the chaos emerald.  
  
Eggman noted that Shadow was still up and going. "Your will is strong if your still standing after two of these darts. Let's see how well you stand up to three."  
  
Eggman fired another dart, this time at Shadow's left arm. Shadow no longer had the energy to dodge and simply accepted the fact that he was done for. As the dart impacted his arm, he said, rather slurred, "Three darts is too much!"  
  
He fell to the ground and blacked out. Eggman just sat that and admired his handywork. "Well, that was easy."  
  
He pressed a few buttons and a few hover boosters activated, lifting him off the ground. It was slightly imbalanced due to the lost leg. He did not pay that any mind and activated a claw that reached out and grabbed the chaos emerald that was clutched in Shadow's hand.  
  
He took another look at the two hedgehogs. Something deep within him told him to kill them. He couldn't help but heed it. He hovered off with the chaos emerald in his hand.  
  
Naraku watched all of this from his hiding place in the bushes. He scowled. "So, Robotnik has quite a strong soul. He still retains a bit of his humanity regardless of my control over him. I shall have to take care of this problem later. The hedgehogs are out cold, so they will be no threat for right now."  
  
Naraku turned away and began to fly away.  
  
Inuyasha and the others were making a brisk pace when Amy stopped.  
  
Inuyasha turned to her. "What's wrong with you? Your not gonna start whining again?"  
  
Amy's lip quivered as she spoke. "I-I just felt a tremor in my heart. I think something has happened to sonic."  
  
Knuckles gave her a questioning look. "Are you sure?" he asked.  
  
Chaos walked up to him. "Knuckles, you should know better than to doubt the ways of the heart. They have a way of knowing things like this. That is what lead you and Rouge to each other and me to Tikal."  
  
Rouge grasped Knuckles hand. "I have to agree with you there."  
  
Tikal moved up and hugged Chaos. "You really know how to be romantic, you know that?"  
  
They kissed. Inuyasha gagged. Kagome looked at him, a frown on her face. "Inuyasha, do you have any sense of love at all?" she asked.  
  
Inuyasha shook his head. "The day that I find a loving sense is the day that I impale myself on my own sword."  
  
Kagome sighed. Amy broke up that conversation by saying, "I have to go back and help him!"  
  
Tikal nodded. "I'll come with you."  
  
Chaos looked at a nearby pond. "I think that I can get us there faster."  
  
Amy tilted her head. "How?" she asked.  
  
Chaos seemed to smirk. "Hold your breath."  
  
Amy and Tikal did as instructed and took in a deep breath. Chaos surprised them by enveloping them up to their necks in his watering arms. They gasped in surprised.  
  
He looked at them, his amethyst eyes glowing slightly. "Just relax. I'll take care of everything. You just need to stay still and I'll get us to our destination."  
  
They took another breath and Chaos completely enveloped them this time. He looked at the Chaotix, Inuyasha, and Kagome. "We'll be back as fast as we can."  
  
He ran forward and jumped into the lake. Everyone watched, surprised when they simply disappeared in a bluish glow.  
  
Vector recovered first. "Well, that was interesting."  
  
Espio crossed his arms. "Hm... must be one of Chaos' powers that he has neglected to mention."  
  
Charmy looked around. "Well, looks like there are only a few of us left."  
  
Inuyasha snorted. "What was your first clue? Great, now I'm stuck here with a giant crocidile, a hyperactive bee, a mute chameleon, a kitsune brat, and an annoying girl from the future!"  
  
Kagome gave him a look. "What is that supposed to mean?"  
  
Vector sighed. "Oy, not this again. I wonder what the others are doing right now..."  
  
Big looked up at the huge castle that was in front of him. "Wow, this is a huge house."  
  
Sesshomaru ignored his comment and forced open the door. Kagura had led them straight to Naraku's castle.  
  
She entered it and looked around. Everything was quiet. "Naraku is not here right now. He's still out watching his new slave reek destruction on something or other."  
  
Rin looked around. "It's scary here, Sesshomaru."  
  
She hugged the dog demon who placed a hand on her head. Kagura bent down and looked the girl in the face. "You don't need to worry. No one is going to hurt you or anyone else."  
  
Rin smiled at the wind demon. "Thank you Miss Kagura."  
  
Sesshomaru let a slight smile grace his features. "You have quite a way with children."  
  
Kagura smiled. "I've... had a bit of experience."  
  
There was a slight silence before Big asked, "Are you two going to kiss?" in a very innocent voice.  
  
The two looked away from each other. Jaken shook his head. He knew that Sesshomaru would never love that demon. "Don't be stupid cat. There is no way that they love each other."  
  
Big frowned. "That's not nice." Then, he began to pick up a sound coming towards them. Froggy began to hop high on Big's head. "I hear something. Somebody's coming!"  
  
Everyone took a fighter stance, preparing for whatever was coming their way.  
  
Sango looked out amongst the trees. It was unnaturally peaceful. Tails, Cream, Kirara, and Cheese were foraging for food while she was left here with the perverted priest."  
  
She looked over at him and eyed him warily.  
  
Miroku noticed this and frowned. "Sango, am I really that horrible?"  
  
She held in a breath and went over to sit next to him. "Miroku, I'm sorry. It's just that I think that I may have become a little wary around since was started traveling."  
  
Miroku chuckled. "I guess that I really haven't given you much reason to get close to me."  
  
He emphasized the last part of his sentence by holding up his cursed hand. Sango found herself giggling. "I guess I could have been a little more hospitable to you. I didn't really give you much reason to talk to me."  
  
Miroku looked down at the ground from where he sat. "Sango, you probably think of me as nothing but a womanizing pervert, but if you want to know the honest truth, I was only groping those other girls to make you jealous."  
  
Sango gasped. "Why?" she asked.  
  
Miroku was blushing. "Well, I..."  
  
Sango looked at him. "Yes?"  
  
Miroku finally managed to blurt out what he had been trying to say for most of the time that Sango had been traveling with them. "I love with you, Sango!"  
  
Sango nearly fainted right there on the spot. Miroku continued speaking. "I know that you may not believe me at this point after everything that I have done, but believe me Sango, this is my heart speaking, not just some perverted lust."  
  
Sango surprised him by hugging him. "Shut up and kiss me. I love you to!"  
  
Miroku was stunned as he felt her lips meet his in a passionate his. He moaned and was about to take this one step further when they heard someone clear their throat near them.  
  
They turned to see Tails, Cream, Cheese, and Kirara standing there. Tails smirked. "Aww, that is so cute."  
  
Cream nodded. "We're so happy for you."  
  
Sango blushed but smiled. Miroku smiled as well, but he was annoyed that these youngsters would just walk in on them like this. He was beginning to see why Inuyasha beat up Shippo so often.  
  
WOW! What a chapter! No closing notes this time, so just read and review and I'll get the next chapter up soon! 


	14. Spread so far apart

Sorry if I haven't been around. But, school is coming to a close soon, so I will be able to devote a whole of my time to updating! YAY! Well, for now this chapter will work. I hope you enjoy it!  
  
Chapter 14: Spread so far apart...  
  
Amy kept her eyes closed and did not dare open them. She could tell that they were moving, because of the water she felt rushing through Chaos' arms. She only hoped that Chaos would get them there soon. She was starting to run out of breath and she was very worried about Sonic.  
  
Finally, she felt Chaos come to a stop and she felt as if he had jumped out of something. Finally he released her from his arms as well as Tikal. They both took some deep breaths and opened their eyes.  
  
They had indeed changed position. Tikal looked up at Chaos. "How did you do that?" she asked.  
  
Chaos helped the two girls to their feet. "Well, that was a trick that I learned shortly after my defeat by Sonic. I learned how to teleport from one body of water to another as long as I have a good idea of where I'm, or someone who is traveling with me, is headed."  
  
Amy was still a little confused. "But none of us had any idea of where Sonic was."  
  
She could almost swear was Chaos was smiling. "Amy, your heart was what led me here. Your heart has some kind of link with his, as all lovers have, so that no matter how far apart you are, you are always together."  
  
Tikal ran up and hugged Chaos. "Chaos, that was not only corny, it was beautiful."  
  
Chaos chuckled. "You really think so? Well, when we get back to our universe, maybe I'll take up writing."  
  
Amy ignored them and started walking in the direction that she somehow knew sonic was in. Chaos and Tikal quickly followed.  
  
They came into a clearing that was scarred with marks from a battle.  
  
Amy gasped as she looked over at where Sonic was. Shadow was next to him, both of them holding marks from a battle, each of them not moving an inch.  
  
She ran over and kneeled down next to Sonic. "Sonic, are you okay? Speak to me.  
  
Tikal and Chaos walked up. Chaos bent down and took a look at Shadow. The first thing that he noticed were the three darts that were embedded in his left and right arms, and his neck.  
  
Tikal scratched her head. "Did they do this to each other?" she asked.  
  
Chaos shook his head. He pulled out the darts that were in Shadows flesh. "I don't think so. Fowl play was involved here. Someone was trying to take them out."  
  
Tikal took the darts and gave them a good look-over. "These are ancient tranquilizers. They were great, but very powerful. One dart was enough to keep someone out for a few days at least. But someone must have felt the need to keep shadow out for a long time if the shot three darts at him."  
  
Amy looked at Sonic's neck to see a dart similar to the ones Tikal was holding embedded there. She pulled it out. Sonic began to stir. Amy looked down at him. "Sonic, are you all right?" she asked.  
  
Sonic's eyes opened half-way. "Amy?" he asked.  
  
Amy nodded, a tear in her eye. "Yes, Sonic, it's me. Who did this to you?"  
  
Sonic flinched a bit before answering. "Eggman... jewel shards... Naraku... mind control..."  
  
That was all that he managed to drone out before everything went black again.  
  
Amy gasped. "I thought Eggman was a changed man. Why would he attack them like this?"  
  
Chaos lifted Shadow up off the ground. "Keep in mind the other things he said. He mentioned some jewel shards, that Naraku bastard, and something about mind control. It is only safe to assume that those three factors play a key role in this."  
  
Tikal nodded. "From what Kagome told us, the shards have the ability to do anything that someone wants them to. This includes mind control. She also said that Naraku had quite a few of the shards. If this is the case, I'm guessing that Naraku used the shards to turn Eggman against us."  
  
Chaos nodded. "Nice analysis."  
  
She smiled at him and walked up. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Chaos' eyes began to glow brighter. And his face began to turn from blue to a light shade of red.  
  
Amy looked at the two. "If you don't mind, I would like to find a place where we can rest and allow Sonic and Shadow to recover, here."  
  
Chaos and Tikal blushed. Chaos easily lifted up the two hedgehogs and started to follow the two females.  
  
Tikal suddenly thought of something rather unsettling. "We're just gonna have to hope that the tranquilizer only contained the basic sleeping concoction."  
  
Amy looked at her friend, a little worried. "What do you mean?" she asked.  
  
Tikal sighed. "Well, sometimes, warriors who used these kinds of darts would fill them with poison instead of the basic sleeping potion."  
  
Amy gasped. She could do nothing but pray now that she had something else to worry about.  
  
Inuyasha looked at the castle with malice. "So, this is where Big is? Damn, we try for months to find Naraku's castle and then this big purple cat comes along and finds it in a few days.  
  
Omega nodded. "Affirmative. Big is located within the walls of that structure. Warning: Unidentified life forms detected in Big's company."  
  
Inuyasha growled as he sniffed the air. "I know who it is. I'd recognize that stench anywhere. It's Sesshomaru and Kagura. What the hell is he doing with those two?  
  
Vector chuckled lightly. "That's Big for you. He has the ability to make friends with some of the most unlikely people."  
  
Espio had a bad feeling about this. "We are already familiar with Kagura, but who is this Sesshomaru?"  
  
Inuyasha started to walking towards the castle. "He's my older half- brother."  
  
Charmy flew up to Inuyasha, buzzing annoyingly close to his ear. "Gee, I never knew that you had a family, Inuyasha."  
  
Inuyasha growled at the bee, making him back off. Shippo walked up to the bee. "Don't worry about him. He and his brother don't really get along that well. They have a pretty deep-rooted sibling rivalry."  
  
Kagome looked at Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, why would your brother be in Naraku's castle? He's hated Naraku ever since that time he gave Sesshomaru that human arm with a jewel shard in it that almost killed him."  
  
Inuyasha shook his head. "I don't know, but I'm gonna find out!"  
  
Kagome put her hands on Inuyasha's shoulders. "Inuyasha, we shouldn't rush in like this. We should think about what we're doing first."  
  
Inuyasha scowled. "Fine, then you stay out. I'm gonna finish this once and for all. I don't want you to get hurt anyway."  
  
Kagome smiled up at him. "Inuyasha, are you concerned for me?" she asked.  
  
Inuyasha's eyes met hers. He just couldn't bring himself to say no to her face. "Yeah, a little..."  
  
He would have said more, but he was cut off by Kagome hugging him. "It means a lot to me to know that you care."  
  
Inuyasha just stood there and blushed. He managed to get Kagome off of him. "Geez, wench, don't get so emotional over me!"  
  
Kagome frowned and was about to say something when Omega interrupted them. "My scanners indicate that Inuyasha's temperature is rising. Inuyasha, will you be alright?"  
  
Inuyasha just folded his arms and said, "Feh! I'll be fine. I don't know about you guys though."  
  
They all followed Inuyasha's lead and started to walk towards the castle.  
  
Sango, Miroku, Tails, Cream, Cheese, and Kohaku had been traveling for a few hours now and were standing at the mouth of a large cave. The tracks that they had been following lead right into the cave.  
  
Cream shivered at the sight of the cave. "I have a bad feeling about this place."  
  
Cheese shivered and perched himself on Cream's head, nodding in agreement.  
  
Tails took her hand, blushing a bit. "Don't worry Cream, We'll all be with you."  
  
Cream smiled at her friend.  
  
Sango and Miroku could do nothing but smile at each other. Even if it was only puppy love, which they doubted, they knew what was happening between Tails and Cream.  
  
The five of them headed into the cave, leaving Kohaku standing there. He sighed. "Oh man... everybody's got somebody but me."  
  
Head bowed, he entered the cave.  
  
Inside, it was rather dark, but it was slightly illuminated by cracks in the wall that allowed a scant amount of sunlight into the cave.  
  
As they walked in, Tails could feel Cream shiver next to him. She moved closer to him. "Tails, I'm scared."  
  
Tails put his free hand around her shoulder. "Don't worry, there's nothing to be..."  
  
He didn't get to finish his sentence before the ground beneath them seemed to break and they both started falling. Cheese managed to fly off of Cream's head before the fall, but Tails' tails were tangled, restricting him from flying.  
  
Sango, Miroku, and Kohaku looked down the hole. "Cream! Tails! Are you okay?" shouted Sango. She received no reply and their screams became more and more distant from them.  
  
Miroku gulped. "That must have bee quite a drop."  
  
Kohaku nodded. "No kidding. I think that they fell into a lower chamber of the cave. Maybe if we keep walking, we'll find an easier way into the lower chamber."  
  
Sango nodded. "I just hope that their all right."  
  
Miroku nodded and walked up beside her. "You and me both, my dear Sango."  
  
Sango stiffened as she felt his hand on her rear. She was about to slap him, but held back instead, she calmly put her hand on his and directed it away from her rear.  
  
Miroku looked at her confused. Sango smiled at him. "Miroku, please. I know that we're together now, but just keep you hand away from me while we're in the presence of others. When we're in private, I promise that I won't resist."  
  
Cheese seemed to sigh at the two. Kohaku, however scoffed. "Damn it! Why the hell don't you two just get a room already?"  
  
Sango was shocked at her younger brother's language. "Kohaku! What is wrong with you?"  
  
Kohaku sat cross legged in front of the hole. "Sango, I'm sorry, it's just that, well, everyone seems to be finding someone to love but me. I just want a love. Is that to much to ask?"  
  
Miroku looked at the younger boy. "Love is something that you can't rush, no matter how hard that you try. I learned that quite a while ago. You'll just have to wait and see what comes your way."  
  
Kohaku sighed. "Well, believe it or not, I actually had my eye on someone when I was under Naraku's control. She... didn't really notice me though."  
  
Sango sat down next to him. "What was she like?" she asked.  
  
Kohaku frowned. "She is one of our enemies."  
  
Miroku closed his eyes. "Sounds like an ancient fairy tale if you ask me. A boy from one side falls in love with a girl on the opposing side. So sad..."  
  
Sango rested her hand on Kohaku's shoulder. "Did you manage to learn her name at least? Maybe we could find her and you could talk to her."  
  
Kohaku looked at his sister. "Her name was... Kanna."  
  
Eggman was headed back to the castle when he saw someone by a pool of water. From what Naraku had told him, it was Kanna, one of his strongest demons.  
  
He eased his slightly damaged mech over to her. "What are you doing here, Kanna? Master Naraku says that no one is supposed to be outside of the castle without permission."  
  
Kanna's emotionless gaze fell on Eggman. "You must be Robotnik, Naraku's newest weapon."  
  
Eggman laughed a bit. "Ha, glad to see that you have heard of me."  
  
Kanna stared out onto the lake. "Robotnik, this may seem like an odd question, but what is it like to have emotions?"  
  
Eggman gave her an odd look. "Why do you ask?" he asked. He may have been under the control of a blood-thirsty demon, but he still retained his human essence.  
  
Kanna gave him as close to a sigh as she could manage, in other words, she stayed silent. "I was born without the luxuries of having emotion. I have no way of knowing if I am even in possession of these things."  
  
Eggman gave her a sympathetic look. "Well, Kanna, first off, I guess it is important to realize how many emotions there are, but some of the most common ones that are experienced are joy, anger, sadness, and love."  
  
Kanna looked back up at him. "Could you describe them to me?"  
  
Eggman stroked his moustache in thought. "Well, they are rather hard to describe. Joy would probably when you are very happy about something, when you have a sense of accomplishment or when someone has done something to make you feel very happy with them."  
  
Kanna shook his head. "I can't say that I have ever experienced that."  
  
Eggman frowned. "Well, then there is anger. Anger is a very bad emotion. It happens when you do not like what is happening around you or someone says something that you do not approve of. It feels like your on fire and you have all of this energy building and boiling inside of you that wants to try and force its way out of you."  
  
Kanna shook her head again. "No, I still do not recall ever experiencing that."  
  
Eggman frowned. "Okay, how about this: sadness is when something bad happens to you. It can sometimes be overbearing to the point wear it can literally tear you apart. It can be triggered by quite a few things like someone important in your life leaving or dying, losing something of value in your life, having extreme pain inflicted on you... the list goes on and on."  
  
Kanna stared out onto the lake thoughtfully for a second. "Someone important to me leaving... Kohaku?"  
  
Eggman continued. "Then, there is love. Love is probably the most complicated emotion of all. It can happen when you least expect it. It is when you have very deep feelings for someone else. I really can't describe what it feels like. You just know it. You also usually know who you have these feelings for."  
  
Kanna looked up at Eggman again. "I... I think that I may have experienced this before. I think that I had feelings for... Kohaku. But, how can I be sure?"  
  
Eggman looked up at the sky for a second. "I'm no expert on the subject. I think that your just going to have to trust your heart on this one."  
  
Kanna looked slightly confused, if that was even possible for her. "Trust my heart? What does that mean?" she asked.  
  
Eggman took out the chaos emerald that he had taken from Sonic and Shadow. "I'm not really sure myself. All I know is that you will be in quite a bit of trouble if Naraku catches you outside of the castle. Take this chaos emerald. If he catches you, give it to him as an apology. I'll see you later, my friend."  
  
Eggman tossed her the emerald and lumbered off in his mech. Kanna stared at the emerald that he had left in her possession. "Thank you... friend."  
  
She sped off in the opposite direction of the castle. She was now set on the only person she knew who could clear up these unknown things that were boiling up within her. Kohaku.  
  
Big looked at the small dots that were quickly approaching the castle. "Who are they?" he asked.  
  
Kagura growled. "It's probably That little bi... brat Kanna!" she shouted. She purposefully censored herself, considering that Rin was present.  
  
Sesshomaru shook his head. "No, there are more than one and I can tell that none of them are Kanna."  
  
Then, his sharp demon eyes picked up the one figure who he loathed above all others. "It's Inuyasha!"  
  
Big's ears perked up and froggy began to jump ecstatically. He rushed away from the others to meet his friends.  
  
Omega saw him coming first. "Ocular sensors show that Big is heading our way."  
  
Big was upon them and he scooped up Inuyasha and Kagome, the two closest to him in one big bear hug. "Inuyasha, Kagome! My pals!"  
  
Inuyasha forced himself out of Big's crushing grip and stared at the giant cat. "Tell me, what the hell were you doing wandering off like that? Thanks to you, we had to split up all over the place! There's no telling where everyone else is now!"  
  
Big's ears drooped. "I'm sorry. But Froggy was missing and I needed to go and find him."  
  
Kagome nodded in understanding. "Don't worry Big, I'm sure that the others will show up sooner or later."  
  
Shipp jumped onto Big's shoulder. "And it looks like you found Froggy to."  
  
Big chuckled, but the merriment was short as Sesshomaru made his presence known with Kagura and Rin. "It is nice to see you again brother. I take it you know Big here?"  
  
Inuyasha nodded and drew his sword. "Yeah, what's it to ya?"  
  
Sesshomaru took a fighter stance. "That sword that you're holding for one."  
  
They both looked like they were ready to charge, but Big stepped in front of Inuyasha and Rin stepped in front of Sesshomaru.  
  
Inuyasha growled. "Get out of the way, Big. I'm gonna finish what should have been finished a long time ago."  
  
Big shook his head. "No! These are my new friends. They were nice and helped me find Froggy."  
  
Sesshomaru was having a similar debate with Rin. "Rin, I must insist that you step out of the way right now. I must get that sword."  
  
Rin shook her head. "No! those are Big's friends. He helped me, remember? Please leave his friends alone. Please?"  
  
They all were about to answer with mixed replies when insane laughter could be heard. They all looked over to see Naraku standing there with Eggman at his side. "Well, it is nice to see such a crowd outside my castle. I rarely get any guests anymore. I think that you have all met my newest impliment for destruction, Eggman."  
  
Eggman walked forward in a now fully repaired mech and laughed. "Prepare to meet your makers."  
  
Vector stepped forward. "What happened? I thought he was on our side again."  
  
Espio shook his head. "It seems that that was just a ruse to make us lower our guard."  
  
Charmy nodded. "Either that or he was just pretending to be our friend."  
  
Espio frowned at the bee. "That's what I said."  
  
Kagome shook her head. "No, he has a jewel shard in his in his head. And it has some chaos energy in it!"  
  
Naraku laughed coldly, holding up a new chaos emerald. "Yes, these chaos emeralds, as you call them have some very interesting uses. I'll be happy to demonstrate... that is, if you get past Eggman first."  
  
Eggman locked onto them with his weaponry. Sesshomaru walked forward. "I suggest a truce until this annoyance is taken care of. What say you, Inuyasha?"  
  
Inuyasha scoffed. "I'm game, as long as I get to kick your ass after this!"  
  
Rin and Big came forward. Big looked concerned. "I'll take care of Rin. Please don't kill Eggman. He's a good guy."  
  
Sesshomaru nodded. "Very well, I shall refrain."  
  
Kagura floated down next to Sesshomaru as well. "You have my assistance as well. I'm through being pushed around by that bastard!"  
  
Everyone stared each other down, waiting for the other side to make a move...  
  
Once again, I have completed this chapter! Sorry if the romance in the last chapter seemed rather rushed, but I was in desperate need of a filler and I was brain dead for the moment. But, I hope that you liked this one all the same. Let me know how I can make the next one even better, Kay? 


	15. An unlikely pairing and loss of control

Okay, I'm sorry about a few things. One, I have not seen very many episodes with Kanna or Kagura in them, so I was unaware that they were (shivers) related. I was also unaware that Naraku had Kagura's heart is his possession. I'll fix it during this chapter. Kay, nice to hear that some people like that odd pairing that I threw in there... hehehe.  
  
Chapter 15: An unlikely couple and broken control  
  
Kanna sped through the forest, intent of finding Kohaku. She was hoping with all of her might that Kohaku could clear up what she was feeling within herself. For some reason, it felt like she had a big hole inside of herself that was demanding to be filled.  
  
From what Eggman had told her, she had a hunch that she might be experiencing those mysterious emotions that she was cursed with not having. As she ran, she thought, "What is this feeling? Why do I feel drawn to Kohaku like this? I must find the answer... somewhere."  
  
She came to the entrance of a large cave. She sniffed the air delicately. "Kohaku is in there. I'd know his scent anywhere."  
  
Still not knowing what fear was, she bravely headed right into the cave, following the scent she knew so well.  
  
-----------------  
  
Tails awoke to a blue glowing light. He looked at the light to see that it was coming from some odd crystals around him. He tried to sit up, but he felt a great pain in one of his tails.  
  
He rolled over onto his stomach and got up. Looking at his tails, he noticed that one of them was bent at an odd angle. It was sprained, meaning that he wouldn't be flying for a long time.  
  
He looked around and saw Cream lying there on the ground, out cold. "Cream!" he gasped.  
  
He hurried over to her and shook her gently. "Cream, are you alright?"  
  
Cream moaned and came to. "T-Tails? Is that you?" she asked.  
  
Tails nodded. "Yeah, it's me."  
  
Cream sat up and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so glad that you're okay!"  
  
Tails nodded and returned her hug. "Don't worry. I'm glad to see that you're okay as well."  
  
Cream looked up at the ceiling where they had fallen through. "Tails, the hole is to small for me to fly trough with my ears. You might be able to get through though."  
  
Tails frowned and shook his head. "I can't. I think that I landed on it after the fall. It's sprained. I won't be flying for a while."  
  
Cream gulped. "Y-you mean we're stuck here?" she asked, tears welling up in her eyes. "Tails, I'm scared."  
  
Tails took her in his arms. "There is nothing to be afraid of, Cream."  
  
He looked around. There was a small tunnel there, lined with those strange glowing crystals. "Come on, Cream. We can get out through there!"  
  
He pointed to the tunnel and Cream nodded. "Okay! Let's go. I hope that Sango, Miroku, Cheese, and Kohaku are okay."  
  
Tails nodded, heading into the tunnel with Cream close to him. "I'm sure that they are."  
  
-------------  
  
Sango was in a bit of a stupor. "Kanna?! She is a soul-stealing demon!"  
  
Miroku nodded. "Yes. Exactly how did you fall in love with her?"  
  
Kohaku thought for a second. "Well, she just seemed so distant and alone, like no one loved her. She just seemed like she needed a friend. I just felt attracted to her for some reason."  
  
Sango shook her head. "And to think that I knew you all of our lives... I never saw this coming."  
  
Kohaku laughed and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Yeah, well... I think that we should get going!"  
  
Kohaku, with Cheese on his head, started walking off at a brisk pace.  
  
Sango shook her head again. "That kid..."  
  
Miroku smirked at her. "Hey, he's your brother. Now what does this say about your family?"  
  
Sango growled at him. "Watch it, buddy."  
  
Miroku put his hands up defensively and started to follow Kohaku, copping a feel as he went by Sango. She gasped and followed after him, giving him a glare. "What did I say about groping?" she asked.  
  
Miroku took a few seconds to thing and answered, "You said not to grope you when we are in the presence of others. Kohaku and cheese are not right here." He gave her an innocent smile... well as innocent a smile as he could manage.  
  
Sango smiled back, but froze as she felt something approaching them. "Miroku, do you feel that?"  
  
Miroku nodded and turned the way that they had come, to see what was approaching them. His eyes widened. "It's Kanna!"  
  
Sango was still cautious about the approaching demon, even though Kohaku had a liking for her.  
  
Kanna came to a halt in front of them. She regarded the two of them with the same emotionless eyes that she always had. "Where is Kohaku?" she asked.  
  
Miroku lowered his staff slightly. "He is with us. He just walked ahead of us."  
  
Sango eyed the demon coldly. "What do you want with my brother?"  
  
Kanna shook her head. "I want to talk to him. He is the only one who can answer my questions."  
  
Kohaku had heard the commotion and ran back. Seeing Kanna, he gasped. Cheese flew off of his head and onto Sango's shoulder. "K-Kanna! What are you doing here?" he asked.  
  
Kanna looked at him. He could have sworn that he saw a hint of happiness in her eyes. "I... came looking for you. I was hoping that you could answer some questions that I have."  
  
Kohaku nodded his head and sat down, beckoning her to come and sit next to him. "I'll do my best."  
  
Kanna nodded and sat down next to him.  
  
Sango watched the two and was about to go and sit next to them, when Miroku put a hand on her shoulder. "Sango, maybe we should just let them talk with one another. I don't think that they would appreciate us listening in on their conversation."  
  
Sango faced him. "But... I just don't feel comfortable leaving him here with that demon."  
  
Miroku shook his head. "From what Kohaku has told us and the way that Kanna is acting, I don't think she came here to be hostile."  
  
Sango sighed in defeat and went to sit down a good distance from the two with Miroku.  
  
Kohaku looked at Kanna. "So, what did you want to ask me?"  
  
Kanna looked at him uneasily. "Kohaku... What is love?"  
  
Kohaku looked rather startled. "W-well, love is, um when you have deep feelings for someone, I guess. I think it is when you... you feel like you've found a person that makes you happy, that you feel like you want to spend the rest of your life with them." He paused for a second. "Why did you want to know?"  
  
Kanna looked at the ground as if rather embarrassed about what she was about to say. "Well, I... I think that I have that feeling for you."  
  
Kohaku gasped. "Y-you do?"  
  
Kanna kept her head bowed, but nodded. "Yes, but how can I be sure?"  
  
Kohaku gently tipped her head up so that she was eye to eye with him. "I think that I know a way we can tell." He brought her face closer to his. His lips met hers in a heated and passionate kiss. What really surprised him was the fact that Kanna was actually kissing back.  
  
He pulled away and looked at her. "Now, tell me what you felt."  
  
Kanna looked at him. Her eyes held something that had never been seen in them... emotion. "I... I felt... warmth. And, I felt... belonging. It was so foreign, but I loved it."  
  
Kohaku nodded. "I felt the same feeling."  
  
Kanna tilted her head. "Then, this feeling is felt is... shared by both of us? We... feel the same about each other?"  
  
Kohaku nodded. "That's right. That is love."  
  
Kanna drew Kohaku into an embrace. "Can we share this again?"  
  
Kohaku smiled at her. "We share it all the time."  
  
Kanna Gave everyone another shock. She smiled! "Kohaku, I don't want to follow Naraku any more. I want to stay with you."  
  
Kohaku gently stroked her white hair. "Then don't. You can stay here with us as long as you like."  
  
Kanna delivered yet another shock. She began to cry. "Oh, Kohaku, thank you! I-I've never felt this way before."  
  
Kohaku couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not surprised. You never felt anything before this."  
  
They both laughed and shared another kiss.  
  
Sango, Cheese, and Miroku watched this with mixed feelings. Miroku sighed. "Ah, to be young and in love."  
  
Sango frowned a bit. "Well, it's going to take some getting used to, but it looks like I don't have a choice now."  
  
Cheese smiled. "Chao, Chao, Chao!"  
  
Miroku smiled. "Come on Sango, you have to admit that they look cute together."  
  
Sango sighed, but smiled. "Okay, I have to admit, they do look good together."  
  
Kohaku stood up and helped Kanna up. She shyly walked up and looked at Sango. "Hello... sister."  
  
Sango did a double take and looked from Kanna to Kohaku and back again. "What?!"  
  
Kohaku laughed. "Don't worry sis. We won't have to think of that for a long time.  
  
Sango blushed at her own outburst and everyone laughed at her current embarrassment.  
  
----------------  
  
Amy watched over Sonic like a hawk awaiting his awakening.  
  
Chaos looked at her, worried for her health. She refused to eat anything and didn't want to sleep until Sonic was awake. "Amy, you musn't worry yourself. Sonic and Shadow will be fine."  
  
Tikal nodded. "That's right. You must calm down."  
  
Amy shot her a glance. "I'm fine! I'm not going to move anywhere until I know that Sonic is okay.  
  
As if on que, Sonic started to stir and talk in his sleep. "Amy..."  
  
Amy looked at him and sighed in relief. "Yes, Sonic. I'm here."  
  
Chaos glanced at him. "Amy, he's still asleep. He's simply sleep-talking."  
  
Sonic shifted in his sleep and started saying, "Amy... Please, don't leave me."  
  
Amy knew that he wasn't awake but she felt like she had to answer him. She knelt down beside him. "Don't worry, I'll never leave you."  
  
Sonic seemed to calm down a bit at the sound of her voice. He smiled. "Amy... I love you."  
  
Amy gasped. Tikal covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. "Well, it's about time. I was wondering when he would get around to admitting it, even if it was only in his sleep."  
  
Chaos chuckled. "Amen to that, my love."  
  
Amy gasped. "I knew it! I knew that he loved me!" she practically shouted. She embraced his limp body.  
  
Tikal shook her head lightly. "Amy, Sonic won't be around very long if you don't give his body a break even when he's unconscious."  
  
Shadow interrupted their conversation when his hand flew to his chest and he groaned in agony.  
  
Tikal and Chaos quickly hurried over to him. Tikal put a hand on his chest, drawing it away quickly. "Oh my! He's burning up!"  
  
Chaos touched Shadow's head. He too drew his hand away. "You're right! We need to do something!"  
  
Tikal, thinking quickly, tore a piece of her dress. She took Chaos' hand and soaked it in his liquid-like arm. "Forgive my rudeness, Chaos."  
  
She put the makeshift cloth onto Shadow's head. Chaos sighed. "There's very little else we can do for him at the moment... You don't think that it was the darts, do you?"  
  
Tikal pondered this for a second. She opened up one of Shadow's eyes. It was bloodshot red and the pupil had gotten smaller. If you stared at it long enough, it seemed to pulsate, like a beating heart.  
  
Chaos gasped. "What's wrong with him?"  
  
Tikal gulped. "H-he has crabapple poisoning."  
  
Amy looked genuinely concerned. "Will he be alright?"  
  
Tikal shook her head. "Listen, unless we get him treatment right away, he's not gonna make it."  
  
Chaos shook a bit. "How do we treat him?"  
  
Tikal closed her eyes. "Kaede and I exchanged knowledge on the subject while we were in town. She told me how to make the counter potion. I need three crabapples, pure spring water, and a cherry blossom."  
  
Chaos nodded. "How long do we have?" he asked.  
  
Tikal gave Shadow another quick examination. "We have forty-eight hours before the poison runs a full circulatory pattern through his body. After that, it will be to late."  
  
Chaos turned and started to walk. "Tikal, Amy... take care of them. I'll go and get the ingredients."  
  
Tikal ran up to him. "Chaos, wait. Please don't go."  
  
Chaos looked at her. "Tikal, your more knowledgeable about medicine than me or Amy and she is still to torn up about Sonic. I need to go. Don't worry."  
  
He placed a kiss on her face with his nonexistent mouth as best he could. "I promise that I'll return in one piece... with all the ingredients to save Shadow."  
  
He dashed off. Tikal let a tear fall from her eye. "Be careful... my love. If you don't come back, I don't know what I'm gonna do."  
  
Chaos continued to run until he came to the lake where they had surfaced to come here. He looked around and there it was. A cherry blossom tree. He carefully plucked one of the delicate flowers and encased it in his body, keeping it safe and fresh.  
  
He stepped up to the spring and dipped his hand into it. He growled, making his liquid build quiver. The lake was tainted. He would have to check a different spring for the pure water.  
  
Taking a step back, he fearlessly jumped into the water, preparing to warp.  
  
----------------  
  
Naraku eyed Kagura. "Kagura, you would change sides on me just like that. That is why I found it nessicary to bring my insurance with me."  
  
He held up what appeared to be a heart. It was still pulsating in his hand. Kagura gulped. "M-master Naraku, please forgive me!"  
  
Big looked at the heart with mild distaste. "What's that?" he asked.  
  
Kagura gulped again. "T-that's my heart."  
  
Everyone who found this as new information gasped. Naraku nodded. "That's right. And she obeys me and only me, knowing that I could end her life with one flex of my hand. As long as I own this, I own her life."  
  
Naraku and Eggman laughed. Then, a voice said, "Naraku, your sick and twisted games with other people's lives ends here and now!"  
  
Naraku looked around. "Who said that?"  
  
The heart in Naraku's hand seemed to lift up on it's own and ran full-speed back to Kagura."  
  
Eggman gulped. "What happened?"  
  
Espio appeared in a swirl of leaves, holding the heart in his hand. "Did you forget about us? She has friends now."  
  
Vector nodded. "Nice work Espio!"  
  
Espio smirked and walked up to Kagura. "I believe that this belongs to you, m'lady."  
  
Kagura smiled at Espio as he held her heart out to her. She took it gratefully. "I am forever in your debt."  
  
She pressed it gently against her chest. It glowed slightly and entered her body. She gasped. "It feels good to have my heart back."  
  
Naraku growled. "Very well Kagura. If you will not side with me, then you will die with my enemies. Eggman, destroy them!"  
  
Eggman chuckled. "With pleasure, master Naraku."  
  
His walker made a whirring noise. "That's it! Now give me all you got!"  
  
He launched a giant laser blast from his Vulcan cannon. Everyone jumped out of the way as it impacted.  
  
Eggman laughed. "Feel the awesome might of my power!"  
  
Rouge growled. "Shut the hell up!"  
  
Knuckles smirked and brandished the spikes on his knuckles. "He does get rather annoying after a while, doesn't he?"  
  
Vector took a fighter stance. "Time to go to work boys!"  
  
Espio followed his lead. "On guard!"  
  
Charmy hovered near them. "Guard on!"  
  
Omega replaced his usual hand with a machine gun. "Must eradicate Naraku and save Eggman!"  
  
Inuyasha looked at Sesshomaru. "Like I said, don't get too comfortable here. This is only temporary."  
  
Sesshomaru nodded. "Agreed. I seriously doubt that this truce shall last outside of this battle."  
  
Big grabbed Rin and backed away. "I think that we shouldn't be this close. It could be dangerous!"  
  
Rin nodded. "Okay, Big. But if they need our help, we should help them."  
  
Big nodded and backed off.  
  
Shippo jumped onto Kagome's shoulder. "It would really help if we had Sonic here. He knows Eggman better than all of us."  
  
Kagome nodded. "Well, we're just gonna have to improvise!" she shouted as she knocked an arrow.  
  
Eggman looked at his odds. "Very well then. If you still choose to fight, then you shall die!"  
  
Eggman charged, revving up his Vulcan cannon.  
  
!#$%&()!#$%&()!#$%&()!#$%&()!#$%&  
  
Finally! Sorry I took so long, but I got rather pulled into the Fantasy Gathering Role Playing board. It's a lot of fun and I would recommend it to anyone who role-plays! Anyway, this is the new chapter and I will try to get back in the swing of things.  
  
PS: I promise that the next chapter will include the actual battle between Eggman and the others. 


	16. Chaos quest and a freaky fight!

Okay, I have managed to fight off a bit more of the writer's block, so I have a new chapter at long last. I hope you enjoy it and I promise to do stuff like this on a more timely manner from now on. Now get to reading, ya'll!  
  
Chapter 16: Chaos quest and freaky fight!  
  
Tails looked around the chamber they were in now. Half of it was submerged in water and there appeared to be a tunnel leading upwards to a higher level of the cave.  
  
Tails looked at Cream and she stared back at him. "What are we gonna do, Tails?" she asked worried.  
  
Tails thought for a second. "We only really have one option and that is to risk swimming up the tunnel... the only problem is we don't know how long it is, so we don't know if we can hold our breaths that long."  
  
Cream took hold of Tails' hand. "Don't worry, we'll make it."  
  
Tails smiled and leaned in closer to her. "Right, but just in case..."  
  
He leaned in and kissed her gently. Cream's eyes bulged slightly, but they soon closed and she wrapped her arms around Tails. When they pulled away, she smiled. "I love you, Tails."  
  
Tails smiled back and nodded. "Yeah, me too."  
  
He took her hand again and squeezed it. "Okay, let's go!"  
  
They both took a deep breath and took a leap of faith right into the water. They kicked feircly, propelling themselves in the tunnel.  
  
----------  
  
Sango, Miroku, Cheese, Kohaku, and Kanna were still walking through the cave. Sango was holding Miroku's hand and Kanna had Kohaku's. Cheese was hovering over them and watching this from the sky. He sighed.  
  
Kohaku stared ahead of him. "How far do you think this cave goes on?"  
  
Kanna strained her eyes. "About another mile and a half."  
  
Sango sighed. "Great. What are we gonna do for another mile and a half?"  
  
Miroku chuckled. "I can think of a few things."  
  
Sango glared at him, but giggled gently. Kohaku chuckled a bit himself and Kanna simply grinned.  
  
Cheese fluttered down to Kanna and gently rested himself on her head, falling asleep instantly. Kanna laughed. "This creature seems to have taken a liking to me.  
  
Kohaku smiled. "Actually, he'll ve friends with anyone who has a soft head he can sleep on."  
  
Everyone had to laugh at that comment.  
  
-----------  
  
Chaos ran faster than he ever had in his life. He had the flower, all he needed was a crabapple and a bit of pure water.  
  
He ran faster and came across a small lake that was surrounded with crab apple trees. He walked forward, but the lake started to bubble slightly. Out of it, came a lovely lady. She had long golden hair and was wearing nothing above the waist. She looked over at Chaos and smiled gently. "Hello there. Can I help you with something?" she asked.  
  
Chaos was rather taken aback, but managed to contain himself. "No thank you. I just need a bit of the spring water and one of those apples."  
  
The woman smirked evily and raised her hand the trees seemed to come alive and used their branches as fists and attacked Chaos. "If you want them, then come and claim them!"  
  
Chaos jumped out of the way and stretched out his arm, grabbing an apple off of the tree. He sped forward, dodging the tree branches as he went and jumped into the water, absorbing some of the pure water. He tried to warp away, but it was no use. The woman submerged herself and looked at him. "You are not going anywhere!"  
  
Chaos growled and swam through the water and through the soil, into the roots of one of the trees. The woman went bak up and looked at the tree he had gone into. "What are you doing?"  
  
Without warning, Chaos shot out of the trunk of the tree and punched her right in the face. She fell unconcious and that was it. Chaos jumped into the water and teleported back to the lake where the others were.  
  
-----------  
  
Tikal wiped a bit of sweat off of Shadow's head. His condition had become much more critical since Chaos had left. He might even go sooner than expected at this rate.  
  
Amy was still sitting next to Sonic. "Sonic, please wake up soon."  
  
Sonic's eyes fluttered open and he looked up at Amy. "I am awake... was I talking in my sleep?"  
  
Amy giggled. "More than you know."  
  
Sonic smirked and looked over at Shadow, his expression changing serious. "Is he alright?"  
  
Amy shook her head. "No, unfortunately he was poisoned. Chaos left to find the ingredients for an antidote, but we don't know how much more time he has."  
  
Sonic closed his eyes. "Even if Chaos doesn't get back, Shadow will be fine. Nothing like this would bring him down. He is the 'ultimate life form' after all."  
  
Amy giggled. "I hope you're right..."  
  
-----------  
  
Everyone stared down each other and then they all charged. Eggman fired off a bunch of rounds from his cannon, all of them either missing or hindering the others.  
  
Big stayed back with Rin, keeping her safe. Sesshomaru ran right past Eggman and ran right at Naraku who was easily dodging all of the demon's attacks.  
  
Inuyasha was drawing a lot of fire from Eggman. Kagome took careful aim at Eggman's mech. "Please work."  
  
She fired the arrow that glowed with a white aura. It landed right in Eggman's cannon, shorting it out. "This isn't the end!" Eggman said proudly.  
  
Kagura raised her fans and fired wind blasts at Naraku as Sesshomaru forced him back towards her. Naraku dodged the attacks and flew up to her, grabbing her around the neck. "Traitor!" he shouted, throwing her. She collided with Sesshomaru, sending them back.  
  
Naraku turned, only to have his face assaulted by a foot and a fist, sending him into a tree. Knuckles and Rouge was there. "Not bad, Rouge. Nice to see that you haven't lost your fighting touch."  
  
Rouge giggled a bit, holding him in the air. "Hey, I do my best."  
  
Vector had managed to get close enough to Eggman's mech and sank his teeth into the leg of the mech, crunching through the metal, sending it to the ground. Eggman looked around, stunned. "Defeated? Impossible! Noo!"  
  
He tried to get the mech into hover mode, but it failed. He looked back and saw Espio enlodging a bunch of Sherikuns in his engiens. He turned around and came face to face with Charmy's stinger. There was a bright flash as the jewel shard in Eggman's head popped out and he shook his head. He grinned. "I'm back!"  
  
Now Naraku looked worried. "This isn't over. I promise you that."  
  
He disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.  
  
Inuyasha growled. "Come back and fight, you coward!"  
  
Sesshomaru looked at Inuyasha and stood in front of him, his claws barred. "Inuyasha, I believe that our truce has ended."  
  
!#$%&()!#$%&()  
  
There ya go, now get off my back! I know that it is a low grade chapter, but I'm still trying to get back in the swing of things. My old computer died, so I had to get a new one, which is another reason that it took so long to get this up. Well, enjoy. 


	17. Reunions and revealations

1Finally, I get back in the swing of things! I know how much you people have missed me... I hope. Well, I'll update anyway. Tell me what you think.

Chapter 17: Reunions and revelations

Tails kept kicking hard, even though his lungs felt like they could burst any second. They had been swimming for nearly five minutes now with no sign of an opening.

Cream tapped his shoulder gently. He understood. She needed air and quick. He looked around for anything. Finally, he noticed the end of the tunnel and kicked harder, coming up through it. He took deep breaths of sweet air, as did Cream.

Tails swam over to the side of the small lake and lay Cream down there. "Are you okay?"

Cream nodded. "I'm alright... but I was almost out of breath down there."

Tails smiled. "Yeah, that was a pretty close one, wasn't it?"

Cream simply nodded again. "Yeah, but we made it, didn't we?"

Tails nodded and helped her to her feet. "Come on, we'd better get moving. Hopefully, we'll reach the others soon..."

Cream nodded again as they started walking. "You and me both. This place is creepy."

---------

Sango and the others kept walking for a while. Cheese was still sleeping on Kanna's head. Kohaku still had her hand in his and it was the same for Miroku and Sango.

Kanna suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. Kohaku looked at her. "What is it?" he asked.

Kanna smiled. "I think that our friends found their way back up here. Their headed towards us right now."

Miroku smiled. "Well, that saves us a bit of walking, doesn't it?"

Sango smiled and nodded. "Yes, it does. I'm glad that they're alright though."

Just then, they all saw Tails and Cream coming towards them. Cheese, as if sensing the return of his friend, awoke and flew over to her, embracing her. Cream returned the embrace. "I missed you too, Cheese."

Kohaku smiled. "Well, that takes care of this mystery. Now, let's get out of here."

Tails nodded. "Yeah..." then, he saw Kanna. "Who is this?" he asked.

Kanna bowed slightly. "I am Kanna. It's nice to meet you."

Cream curtsied and smiled. "I'm Cream and this is Tails. It's nice to meet you too."

With introductions taken care of and all was told, they began to head back to the entrance of the cave, all of them keeping an eye out for holes in the floor this time.

-----------

Chaos kept running. He knew that Shadow was running out of time. He had to get back there NOW!

The trees seemed to close in on him. He looked around and stopped. "What?" he asked. The trees blocked his path. He heard laughter and growled. "Come out and fight!"

The girl who had tried to stop him at the lake appeared before him once again. "Hello again, bastard. I'm afraid that you really pissed me off when you attacked me back at the lake."

Chaos growled and charged. "Get out of my way! I don't have time for this!" he shouted. He extended his hand in a large punch. The girl waved her hand and a tree seemed to leap in front of her, blocking him. "What the?"

He growled and jumped back. The girl giggled. "Don't you get it, you naive fool? Wood is mine to command. Wood is to me what water is to you... but as you can see, we aren't anywhere around water, leaving you my prey."

Chaos was extremely irritated now. He liquified himself so that he was like a puddle and started slithering forward. The girl tried to slam him with tree roots, but it didn't work. Every time he was struck, he reformed and kept going forward. "What the hell?" she shouted.

Chaos smirked to himself and leaped at her. He slammed into her abdominal area, causing her to fall unconscious. He reformed himself and looked at her. "I told you that I don't have time for this." He looked down and saw three jewel shards in her hand. He reached down and picked them up. As soon as they entered his hand, it transformed into the form that he usually received for absorbing one chaos emerald. He stared in awe. "These jewel shards must be equal to, if not greater than the chaos emeralds in power... I must tell the others of this find!"

He took off again, remembering that he was on a strict schedule.

----------

Tikal gently rubbed the wet cloth against Shadow's fur in a vain attempt to keep him cool. His temperature was increasing and he seemed to be in a lot of agony. His hand flew to his chest every once in a while, where he would groan and scream a bit while clutching his heart, showing that the poison was circulating.

Amy and Sonic watched helplessly as their friend was slowly and painfully pulled towards oblivion. Sonic looked seriously at Tikal. "How much longer does he have? Don't sugarcoat it either."

Tikal looked at them sadly. She held up her hand and extended two fingers. "Two hours at best... thirty minutes at worst."

Amy gulped. "Poor Shadow... Please, Chaos, get back here soon!"

A familiar voice behind them said, "Did someone call?"

Everyone turned to see chaos standing there. Tikal smiled. "Chaos! Your back. Did you get the ingredients?"

Chaos nodded and produced the blossom, the crab apple, and the spring water, which he held in his form until it was needed.

Everyone sighed in relief. Tikal took the crab apple. "Good work, Chaos. I'll get started on the antidote as fast as I can."

Sonic smiled at Amy. "Well, looks like Shadow's gonna be okay."

Amy nodded. "Yeah..." She suddenly became a little serious. "Sonic, could I talk to you about some of the things that you said in your sleep?"

Sonic nodded, not really sure what she meant. Whenever he talked in his sleep, it was usually just mindless babble. "Sure Amy."

Amy looked down a bit. "Well, when you were asleep... you started talking about me... and you said that you... loved me."

Sonic's eyes widened and he blushed crimson. "I did?"

Amy nodded. "Is that true?"

Sonic smiled and nodded. "It is... I do love you Amy."

Amy smiled, tears of joy in her eyes. She brought Sonic into a large hug, which he returned without hesitation.

Amy drew away and started bringing them closer together, but Sonic was the one to close the distance. They kissed each other, wallowing in passion. They smiled at each other as they drew away. Then, an all-to familiar, cocky chuckled could be heard. "Well, isn't this a touching scene."

The both jumped and turned to find the source of the noise. There was Shadow, standing there in all his glory. He gave them a casual wave. "Hello there, love birds. It seems that I've missed quite a lot while I was unconscious, ne?"

Sonic chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I guess you could say that."

Tikal walked up and smiled. "Thank goodness that the antidote worked so quickly. Shadow has made a full recovery and all the poison is gone from his system."

Chaos also joined them. "Well, now I guess we should try and find the others, correct?"

Everyone nodded. Then, for the first time, Tikal noticed his arm. "Chaos, did you eat a chaos emerald?"

Chaos shook his head and spat out the three jewel shards. His arm reverted back to its normal self. "These jewel shards seem to have the same properties as the chaos emeralds. If I get enough of them, I could possibly become Perfect Chaos again."

Sonic nodded and picked up the jewel shards. "We'll have to tell Tails and Eggman about this. Maybe they can find some connection between the Shikon jewel and the chaos and master emeralds."

Shadow tapped his foot impatiently. "Well, this is all fine and good, but I would like to get going if you don't mind."

Sonic held up his hands defensively. "All right, all right, don't rush me... boy, what I just said..."

----------

Inuyasha growled as he held his sword ready. Sesshomaru flexed his claws as he stared down his younger brother.

Knuckled shook his head. "Those two just helped each other win the fight and yet they're still going to try to turn each other into mince meat."

Rouge giggled. "That, Knuckles, is known as brotherly love."

Kagome looked at Rouge, a but sickened. "I don't find that very funny."

Espio folded his arms. "I think that it would be in our best interests to let them resolve this matter themselves. Anyone who get's in their way is going to end up getting killed."

Vector and Charmy nodded. Kagura settled down near the Chaotix. "Point well taken, chameleon."

Eggman sighed as he hovered over his mech. Why did they have to be so hard on it? Oh well, he would just have to repair it... with what little he had to work with. The engiens should still work, but he would have to get Espio to get the Sherikuns out of there first.

Big and Rin stepped forward and in between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. Inuyasha growled. "Get outta my way, Big!"

Big shook his head. "No. These are my friends, Inuyasha. They helped me find Froggy." Froggy hopped up and down on Big's head.

Sesshomaru lowered his claws. "Rin, step out of the way." His voice was calm, yet commanding.

Rin shook her head. "No, Shesshomaru. They helped us and Big was a big help! Please don't fight?"

Inuyasha sighed and sheathed his sword. Sesshomaru put down his claws. "Inuyasha, I will walk away this time... but next time, there will be nothing to stop me from claiming the Tetsaiga (Can't spell it.).

Sesshomaru turned and started to walk away. Rin and Jaken, who had been hiding like a coward in the bushes this whole time, started to follow him. Kagura floated towards him. "May I... come with you? I have nowhere else to go now."

Sesshomaru gave her the faintest smile and nodded. "Very well. You might come in handy."

Big waved goodbye to his friends. "Bye, Rin! Bye-bye Mr. Sesshomaru!"

Rin waved back and Sesshomaru simply waved his hand while walking.

Kagome sat down. "Well, now what?"

Knuckles sat down, as did Rouge. "I vote for finding the others. We'll all need to be together if we want to have any chance of beating this Naraku guy."

Everyone nodded, but Inuyasha scoffed. "Please, as if I would need your help."

Knuckles growled and stood up, brandishing his fists. "Hey, a few minutes, ago, you wouldn't even be alive without my help."

Inuyasha brandished his own fist. "You wanna make something clear, here?"

Knuckles nodded. "Bring it on, dog boy! Bring it on."

Both, Kagome and Rouge sighed. Rouge looked at her. "I'm the girlfriend of a guy with a very short fuse, a very smart mouth, and really big muscles."

Kagome giggled a bit. "I guess we're both in the same boat then, huh?"

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There's your new chapter, and it didn't even take me two months to get it up. A RECORD! YAY. Well, I guess this one was okay. In my opinion, it was better than the last one, plot wise, but I'm not complaining. Just let me know what you think.


	18. Chaos is power, enriched by the heart

1I LIVE! Yes, as impossible as it seems, I am updating this story. I apologize over and over for my absence and I don't feel like boring you with my lame excuse so... how about I just skip that and go right to the story, ne?

_**Chapter 18: Chaos is power, enriched by the heart**_

Naraku growled to himself as he sat there in his empty chambers. In one swoop he had lost three of his best servants to them. Seems that he only had one option then. Getting up, he walked swiftly to an old chest in the room. Opening it revealed the remaining chaos emeralds. He grinned lightly and reached down, picking each one up gently, lovingly, as if he was holding his own child.

"These will be the end of them... the power that they sought shall destroy them all!" He laughed and took each jewel, opening his mouth as wide as he could and shoving each one down his throat individually. As the last of them was ingested, he groaned lightly, clutching his heart. "I can feel it! The energy is incredible, even compared to that of the sacred jewel! Their power... coursing through me!" His eyes began to glow red as his body held in the power of the emeralds. Letting out a yell, he thrust his chest forward as the three emeralds flew from his chest and onto the ground in front of him. All three of them were now a dull, glassy color, no sign of their original life anywhere. "Useless now, aren't you?" he asked, as if hoping to get an answer from them. Laughing again, he decided it was time to make his next move against Inuyasha and the rest.

Miroku smiled as they finally reached the edge of the cave, all of them glad to see sunlight again. Tails and Cream, who had been in the darkness longer than anyone else, had to cover their eyes and rub them furiously before they could actually see again. "Geeze, that's bright!" Tails complained.

Cream nodded gently as Cheese flew onto her head to try and make her feel better. "I forgot how bright the sunlight is from being down in that cave so long..."

Kohaku took a deep breath. "Sun or not, it's good to smell fresh air again."

Kanna frowned gently. "Wait... something is very wrong... can you feel it?"

Sango nodded gently. "Yes... it's definitely Naraku's demonic aura, but it's different somehow... more unholy, more... more chaotic."

Tails frowned deeply. "The chaos emeralds... he must have found a way to absorb their powers... or at least part of them."

Miroku tilted his head. "Part of them? What do you mean by that, Tails?"

Tails crossed his arms sagely. "There was an old poem that we first heard from Tikal. It stated that the seven servers are the chaos. Chaos is power, enriched by the heart. The master is the one that unifies the chaos. What this means is, the chaos energy is split in two and can be used for good or for evil. Naraku can only harness one half of their power, the more evil side. If we can get back all seven and unlock their good energy, then we can surely beat him!"

Kanna frowned again and her eyes narrowed. "That is all well and good, but his senses are heightened now. He can sense the remaining chaos emeralds that our friends hold... the remaining jewel shards that we have... and our very essence... he is leaving his den and heading towards Inuyasha... probably to get the remaining jewel shards."

Kohaku nodded. "Then that's where we're going. We have to stop him as soon as possible!"

Sango nodded and gave Kilala the signal. She turned to her monstrous fighting form and beckoned her friends on. It took a little squishing and tightening, but Miroku, Sango, Kanna, and Kohaku all managed to fit on her back. Kilala groaned a bit at all the weight, but managed to take off, regardless.

Tails, Cream, and Cheese, being able to fly naturally, quickly followed after them. "We'd better hurry too... even I can sense it now."

Shadow, who had been in the lead of the small group, stopped suddenly. No one really noticed until he dropped to the rear and still didn't move. Sonic turned back to him. "Yo, Shadow, what's up?"

Shadow looked up at the sky and felt the presence of... three chaos emeralds... coming towards them. "How many chaos emeralds do we have total?" he asked gently.

Chaos, who sensed it as well, shook his head. "We have four... whatever's coming towards us has three, but is only using the negative energy of the emeralds, like I did when I was on a rampage... and I can sense one jewel shard as well... a big one."

Tikal frowned. "But... if we have four, then these must be the other three... which means that it can only be Naraku. Not only does he have most of the sacred jewel shard, he must have the remaining chaos emeralds as well."

Sonic's hands twitched. "His power... I remember this kind of stuff only when I was up against the biolizard, Metal Sonic, and Chaos himself. And he's only using THREE of the stupid emeralds! Is the jewel really so powerful.

Amy clenched her fists and was ready to draw her hammer at a moment's notice. "It must be. Even I can feel his power and the only way I've ever sensed anything like this is when all seven Chaos emeralds, along with the master were present! And that isn't even a completed jewel!"

Shadow nodded gently. "Yes... we need to find the others right away. Knuckles should still have the master emerald and if he does, then there is a chance we can use it to nullify the effects of the chaos emerald!"

Sonic nodded. "Right, let's go and quick!" He grabbed Amy's hand and started running through the forest as fast as he dared with her as his cargo. Shadow similarly took Tikal and Chaos' hand, blasting through the forest next to Sonic. Sonic grinned. "Sure you can make it while carrying two people?"

Shadow grinned. "Oh come on, Sonic. We all know you won't go at max speed while carrying her."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "And like you'd be any different with your friends?"

Shadow laughed lightly. "I guess not, huh?"

Sesshomaru stopped in his tracks, as did Kagura as they both sensed what was heading towards the area they had just left. Sesshomaru looked back towards the area, where his brother was undoubtably still standing. "It is Naraku... he has enhanced his abilities beyond that of the jewel."

Kagura nodded. "He's finally utilized the chaos emeralds that we hunted for him."

Jaken stepped forward a bit. "My lord, what are we to do? No doubt Naraku is after the sacred jewel shards and the remaining emeralds your brother and his friends possess."

Rin nodded. "Yeah! He probably wants to do bad things with them! And Inuyasha and the others might get hurt if we don't go and help!"

Sesshomaru looked at the three of them. "You are all right... As much as I despise that brother of mine, I have stated several times that I am the one who shall kill him." He nodded to them and reversed their course, taking them back towards the battle that would soon be raging there.

Kikyo looked up at the sky. Naraku, her master... he had finally ingested the power of the chaos emeralds and the sacred jewel. It would not be long now before Inuyasha would die and she would find his soul and drag it to hell with her... that had been his promise. He would not go back on it now, not after what she had done for him. Slowly, she walked towards the patch of darkened sky that symbolized his demonic aura.

Inuyasha and Knuckles' scuffle came to an abrupt halt as the demonic aura started drawing closer to them. The Master Emerald started to vibrate and glow ecstatically. Rouge frowned. "There are chaos emeralds on their way here..."

Kagome nodded. "Not only that, but so is a big piece of the sacred jewel... an almost complete piece."

Inuyasha growled. "Naraku... he's coming for us."

Charmy flew up into the atmosphere and frowned. "He's really close! Almost here and closing!"

Vector frowned. "Charmy, 'almost here' does not give us very much description."

Omega let out a few bleeps. "Warning... enemy is at 1 mile and closing... will arrive in approximately five minutes!"

Robotnik frowned, looking down at his mech. "This type of power... it shouldn't be possible to hold so much at one time! This is more deadly than anything all seven chaos emeralds could have created! This is above and beyond it!"

Espio looked at the gathering clouds sagely. "And so our enemy is making the first strike... not a smart move on his part, assuming that he can defeat us. Even with all that power, he is still not without a weak point somewhere."

Inuyasha nodded. "You're right... all we have to do is find it."

Big tilted his head. "How do we do that?"

Knuckles cracked his... knuckles and grinned. "We just keep attacking until we find something."

Kagome frowned. "Is that really the best course of action against something like this?" she asked worriedly.

Inuyasha snorted. "I don't hear you coming up with anything."

Kagome frowned at him and pouted, but he was right. She was at a loss of a better plan for right now.

And now, all is tense... it is the calm before the storm... this could decide the fate of all who fight. Life or death are the crossroads found here now. Losing means more than hurt pride. It means more than a simple loss of title... it means loss of life as well. This will decide the end of all things. The chaos emeralds... the heroes... the shikon jewel... the villains... the anti-heroes. It has hall come down to this.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

There, there's your new chapter, so people can stop E-mailing me about not updating and quit griping about it already! I know that it is rather lack-luster, but this is how I planned it. And no, I don't plan on ending it this soon, I still have many more plans for this fic. SO THERE! XP! Now read and review!


	19. Rise of Omega Inuyasha!

1And so I update again... is this it? Could this possibly be the final chapter? Will this be the last annoying question that I ask you people? The answer: NO! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! But, on the plus side, that means you can keep reading!

_**Chapter 19: Titanic powers! Rise of Omega Inuyasha!**_

Inuyasha, Kagome, Knuckles, Rouge, Omega, Charmy, Espio, Vector, Eggman, and Shippo were all tensely awaiting the arrival of their enemy, Naraku. Every time he came closer, they felt a wave of pure negative energy rush over them. Even Inuyasha shivered as he felt this abundant power coming towards them.

Kagome's hands shook so hard that she dropped her arrow from her bow and started taking deep breaths. Inuyasha frowned and lowered his sword a bit. "Kagome, are you alright?"

Kagome nodded gently. "Y-yeah, don't worry about me. I'm fine, Inuyasha... but I've never felt anything like this before. It's unbelievable."

There was a small chuckle from near the group. "None of us have." Everyone turned to see Shadow, Sonic, Chaos, Tikal, and Amy there.

Eggman grinned a bit. "Good to see you all could join the festivities. It should be starting very soon."

Tikal walked over to the others quickly, as did Chaos. "Everyone, please be very careful. I have never felt anything so devastating before. It's as if everything that Naraku comes close to is dying now."

Kagome nodded in agreement. It's incredible, to think that this much power can be attained with an almost whole jewel and three emeralds."

Knuckles set the master emerald down and it grew to it's normal size. "I'll get this thing ready. When Naraku gets here, we can use this to try and neutralize the power of the chaos emeralds... but I'm afraid that it might not work on the Jewel."

Sonic walked up and put a hand on the Master Emerald. "Even if it doesn't work on the jewel, Naraku's power should be cut by about two thirds without the power of the chaos emeralds."

Tails suddenly landed near them. "Hopefully, that will be enough. Naraku won't be a pushover, even without the chaos emerald's powers."

Cream, Cheese, Sango, Miroku, and Kilala landed as well. Inuyasha snorted and grinned. "Nice of you guys to join us. What kept you?"

Miroku shrugged casually. "Pitfalls and darkness." he answered.

Inuyasha nodded, but stopped as he looked at who was with Kohaku. "What the hell is SHE doing here!" he asked, indicating Kanna.

Kohaku blushed a bit and smiled. "She's, uh... my girlfriend..."

There were a few chuckles and uncertain mumbles throughout the people, but Big, being the giant stupid cat that he was, embraced Kanna quickly. "Nice to meet you. I'm Big!"

Kanna giggled a bit as Big embraced her, but she quickly broke away, smiling. "It is nice to meet you all..." she turned to Chaos and Tikal. "I... do hope that we can put what happened between us in the past."

Chaos scrutinized her critically for a second before nodding. "I guess so. As long as you don't try and kill us, I'm fine with you."

Tikal nodded. "All is forgotten."

Kanna nodded and turned to Omega, hoping to hear the same from him. Omega looked her over for a moment, scanning her. "Kanna registration terminated as enemy unit. Re-registering as companion in arms."

Kanna tilted her head at the robot. "Excuse me?" she asked.

Eggman chuckled. "That's his way of saying, welcome to the team."

Kanna smiled, but shivered a bit as she saw Sesshomaru, Jaken, Kagura, and Rin coming out of the forest. Inuyasha scowled, turning to face his brother. "Oy, what are you doing back here so soon?"

Sesshomaru drew his swords. "We felt an enormous power source coming this way. I'm assuming it's Naraku and I refuse to let him kill you. I am the only one who will have the pleasure of ending your life, Inuyasha."

Sonic eyed the two brothers and shook his head. "Cold..."

Shadow chuckled. "Ah, brotherly love. It's a beautiful thing."

All went quiet as the wind stopped and time itself seemed to stand still as the demonic aura, combined with the power of chaos reached them. Naraku, in his humanoid form, walked out into the open. His skin was radiating red and black and his eyes glowed golden. "Fools... it won't matter who kills who soon. In the end, I shall be the only one left. This world is mine now!" He let out a tremendous burst of energy that knocked a few of our heroes back, but several of them stayed standing.

Kagura panted as she touched down after the attack. "His power... it's even more unbelievable up close!"

Naraku grinned and threw his three chaos emeralds at them. "Take these for yourselves, fools. They're useless now that I have absorbed their power."

Rouge quickly picked them up and placed them next to the master emerald. "We need a distraction to gather some energy... we have all seven emeralds now, think Super Sonic and Super Shadow can hold him off?" she asked Knuckles.

Knuckles grinned and nodded. "Alright..."

Naraku chuckled lightly. "Inuyasha... come and face me now. You have a clear shot. Show me the power that I have heard you boast about time and time again!"

Inuyasha growled, his pride beginning to work away at his common sense. Sonic took his wrist quickly. "Don't let him get to you. Keep him busy, Shadow and I are going to attempt to transform to our super forms and keep him at bay so Knuckles and Tikal can try and sap him of his chaos power."

Inuyasha grunted. "Then I'm fighting too. I'll take my own... super form and fight him off with you. He's my enemy and I won't let someone else fight my war."

Sonic was about to protest, but Shadow shook his head. "Let him do what he likes, Sonic. If I recall, I felt much the same about my own passions."

Sonic nodded, hesitantly. "Alright, follow us, Inuyasha..."

Inuyasha, Shadow, and Sonic both walked towards the seven chaos emeralds and the master emerald, everyone else standing between them and Naraku. He laughed. "What's wrong Inuyasha? Have you turned into a coward? Come and face me!"

It took all of his will power, but Inuyasha stood before the chaos emeralds. Sonic and Shadow nodded to each other and placed their hands on the master emerald. "Alright, Inuyasha... let's go!"

Inuyasha nodded and touched the master emerald with them. All of a sudden, the seven chaos emeralds glowed brightly, even the three that Naraku had absorbed the energy out of. The started to swirl in a circle around the three and sent a large burst of energy down onto them.

Everyone, even Naraku himself had to shield their eyes to protect themselves from the light. As the light faded, Super Sonic and Super Shadow stood there in their golden glow... but a third figure stood there. Event he more powerful Naraku gave a slight gasp of surprise. "No! How is that possible? I... I took the power from those gems! Who are you?"

Inuyasha's claws had sharped considerably. His eyes glowed red and his fangs had sharpened. His hair retained it's silver color, but he now hovered a few feet off the ground and a large silver aura surrounded him. "I am the product of the positive energy from these emeralds, just as Super Sonic and Super Shadow. I am the one who will end you, Naraku. I am Omega Inuyasha!"

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((Yes, I know it's kind of a filler, but that's all I'm giving you right now. You shall be pleased with the next chapter, however, I promise, yes, yes!))


	20. Final battle? I think not!

1Does this chapter mark the end of the fanfiction? Damn straight... NOT! HAHAHAHA! You shall all endure this chapter where we introduce new twists and turns, as well as an insightful plot to end the world as we know it!

_**Chapter 20: Final battle? I think not!**_

Inuyasha, Sonic, and Shadow, now in their most supreme form, raised themselves off the ground and faced the colossal form of Naraku. Even faced with these new odds, Naraku did not falter. He would not be defeated now, not on the hour of his victory! He would defeat them here and now! He swung his claw at them, snarling. "DIE!"

All three of them scattered, avoiding the swipe. Inuyasha drew his sword, gasping as he felt a bit of his power fuse with the blade, making it even more powerful than it had been before. "Naraku... you will die here and now."

As this was stated, Kikyo watched with interest from behind the trees, well away from the group that was working with the Chaos emeralds. She shivered a bit. "So, this is the true power that the emeralds possess... who would have thought that they could rival the abilities of the jewel?" She gave a soft chuckle and started to walk away from the fight. "I guess there is no point in waiting around to see the outcome of this. Naraku has already lost."

Back at the fight, Shadow and sonic were using what they now called 'gemini' techniques, attacks that used their combined abilities in devastating duo attacks. They were surprisingly well-constructed and strategic attacks as well. Inuyasha was the brute of the fight, lashing out viciously at his enemy.

Naraku knew he was in a losing fight, but he refused to back down. As long as he had the chaos energy within him he would remain immune to their techniques, as would they to his. "What now, Inuyasha? Are we to be four immortals locked in eternal combat for the rest of eternity?"

Inuyasha smirked. "No, I'd say that your time is about over, Naraku."

Down on the ground, Chaos, Knuckles, and Tikal were focusing all the power they had into the master emerald. They each chanted in unison, "The seven servers are the chaos. Chaos is power, enriched by the heart. The master is the one that unifies the chaos! Only you can do this, stop Naraku!"

The Master emerald glowed brightly and the chaos emeralds started to radiate blinding light as they were lifted off the ground, circling around the master as the power built up to take on this task. Naraku gasped and some sort of colorful smoke started to leak out of him and return to their respective emeralds. "No! My... my power! Where is my power going to!"

Inuyasha turned to Sonic and Shadow. "Now, guys!"

Shadow nodded and flung himself at Naraku's side, going straight though him and coming out through his rib cage. Sonic created a thunderbolt of energy around himself and launched it at Naraku, causing a good deal of outer damage. Inuyasha raised the tetsuiaga and, with one mighty swing, Naraku was cleaved clean in half.

Even with his vision split, Naraku still continued to look down upon the ones who had finally ended his life, the souls of the demons he had gathered sizzling and flickering out of existence. "No... impossible... I can't lose... I can't... lose..."

Those were his final words as his now colossal body collapsed among the trees behind him. Inuyasha, Sonic, and Shadow landed in front of the others, their forms losing their golden glows and becoming their normal selves again. Amy ran forward and grasped Sonic in her hug of death. "Sonic, I'm so glad you're okay! Everything's all set now! We can go home soon!"

Sonic's eye twitched a bit. "Amy... breath... oxygen... darkness..."

Shadow breathed a bit and smirked as he approached the master emerald and the seven emeralds. "All over now. With Naraku gone, we can all return to our daily activities with little to no commotion.

Inuyasha smiled a bit as Kagome ran to him, embracing him gently. "Inuyasha, you were amazing."

Inuyasha snorted a bit. "Yeah, well, that's to be expected. Now, tell me where the jewel shards are on his body so I can go and pick them out."

Kagome smiled and nodded, pointing to each piece of the jewel that was currently planted within the body.

Sesshomaru sighed lightly and turned away. "This is where we take our leave. Jaken, Rin, come."

Kagura turned to look at him. "Might I come as well? I have no where else to go and I don't plan on sticking with these people anymore."

Sesshomaru shrugged. "Do what you will, just don't get in my way."

With that, the four left the group, being as discreet as possible about it.

Kagome smiled as she held the rest of the jewel shards in her hand. "Finally... I can feel it. This is the completed jewel. We have all the shards. Now, all we have to do is restore the jewel to it's original form."

Miroku looked down at his cursed hand and took a deep breath, unraveling the prayer beads and the glove that had kept his curse at bay for so long. He gazed with wide eyes at what he saw... his palm. All was right now, his hand was finally back to normal! He could lead a normal life now."

Sango smiled as she peeked over his shoulder. "It's over... it's all over..."

There was some hysterical laughter from around them. "And what, praytell, is over?" a voice asked."

Shadow took a fighter's stance, ignoring the exhaustion he was going through due to the effects of his super form. "Who's there? Show yourself."

The voice replied, "I'll show myself alright." There was a small shimmering just above Naraku's body and there was a small clap of thunder as a chair appeared before them, floating in midair in front of them. Upon the chair sat a young man, looking about twenty. His long blue hair was tied in a tight ponytail behind him and his red eyes stared at them in a very predatorial way. "Greetings, inferior beings."

Rouge growled lightly. "Who are you calling inferior!" she asked indignantly.

The man stared down at her and raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, was I not clear enough?" he asked sarcastically. "And I am guessing that you are the group who finally defeated Naraku?"

Eggman moved his mech forward a bit. "That depends on who's asking."

The man chuckled. "Oh yes, forgive my manners, I am called Apocalypse, leader of the organization, Ragnarok. And I suppose I must thank you. I thought that no one would kill this one."

Tails raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Was he one of your enemies too?"

Apocalypse let out a thundering laugh. "Foolish fox, of course not! We created him!"

There was a collective gasp from around the group. Cream gulped a bit. "But... but why would you create someone like him?"

Apocalypse grinned. "Perhaps I should explain, shouldn't I? You see, Ragnarok's main goal is to create a universe where all can live peacefully. A world free of discrimination."

Shippo frowned. "And you think that by letting creeps like Naraku go, then that'll happen?"

Apocalypse frowned. "I wasn't finished, you little brat. As I was saying, In order to make this happen, All inferior beings need to be erased."

Espio eyed Apocalypse carefully. "And just what is classified as 'inferior?'"

Apocalypse nodded gently. "I am what you would call a 'lifeless being.' I am neither living nor am I deceased. As such, I have achieved superiority over you, as have my comrades."

Vector scratched his jaw, still needing more information. "That still doesn't explain why you let this maniac loose on us."

Apocalypse nodded. "Yes, well, you see, to keep Ragnarok running and to destroy inferior beings takes a lot of power. So, for very little power at all, we can create beings such as Naraku, who have a natural hunger for power. They thirst for it."

Big's ears flattened. "But why do you send them here?"

Apocalypse grinned. "We don't just send them here. We send them to every corner of this universe! Once they arrive there, they are given fake memories of that world using historical knowledge of that world. In their search for power, the would inevitably gain more power and would become dangerous to that world. Then, once they were killed, all the energy gathered by them physically, mentally, technologically, magically, or by any other means is absorbed back to Ragnarok, feeding us even more power, making the sacrifice of these pathetic vessels all worth the hassle of giving them life."

Charmy buzzed. "That's crazy! What'll you do with all that power!"

Apocalypse sighed. "So many questions. And I thought you were all some of them more intelligent inferior beings... oh well." He looked at them all again. "The power is used to help increase productivity of our machines and we can use it to create weapons capable of destroying these useless worlds.

Kagome gasped. "You... monster! How could you do this?"

Eggman fiddled with his moustache. "But, if you need the vessel to die in order to absorb their energy, why do you not carry out the task yourselves?"

Apocalypse shrugged. "For an unknown reason, even to us, our technology seems to eradicate the power stored within the vessel and their empires. For this reason, we have no choice but to wait until they are killed by a resident of the world they were taken to."

Kohaku clenched his fists. He was normally peaceful, but there was no way he would stand for this. "You... you just use them..."

Apocalypse shifted lightly. "Yes, well, I'm sure you know what that feels like, don't you?"

Kanna was about to say something, but held her tongue, fearing that it would only hurt Kohaku.

Shadow stepped forward, making a defiant sweep with his hand. "I won't stand for this! I too once sought for the destruction of the world, but now, I will use every ounce of my own power to kill you and put an end to your plans!"

Apocalypse grinned. "It's funny you should bring that up."

Chaos stepped next to his friend. "Why?"

Apocalypse closed his eyes for a second. "It was several thousand years ago. We began to research the world of Mobius, examining every possible way we could use the powers there to our advantage. After seeing this master emerald that the echidna tribe possessed, we knew how. For several years, we worked on this one, trying our best to make it look as godlike as possible. It was... vessel number 1180, code name: Chaos!"

Chaos staggered a bit. "Wh... what? That... that can't be true! It isn't true!"

Tikal rushed to his side. "Chaos... he's bluffing. He has to be."

Apocalypse sighed. "Oh, if only I were. You see, we injected him into the master emerald by making his body as close to the same frequency as possible. After that was done, all we needed to do was use some simple prism technology to implant him in there. Even though we did make him naturally peaceful, we also gave him a very short temper, and a weak heart, knowing that the slightest offense could send him over the edge and on a quest for power."

Chaos growled. "So, you knew that the echidna tribe would one day come for the emerald."

Apocalypse nodded. "Yes... that was the day that your heart turned from fire to ice and you lusted for more power, your rage only building. However, the transformation worked a little too well, you see. As it turns out, when we made you god-like, we took it a step to far and rendered you the inability to be killed by means located on that planet. We would have collected all the power stored within you by now if not for that tiny detail."

Chaos chuckled a bit. "Heh, so I was a reject, is that what you're saying?"

Apocalypse nodded. "Yes... I do regret that we never got our hands on your power though. Now..." his eyes shifted to Shadow. "It was several millenia after we realized our mistake that we decided to take another step towards destroying Mobius. We had been monitoring the Robotnik family for quite some time... finally, after completing construction of the two new vessels for that world, we headed down to his space station. It is a pity that he and his poor little niece had to die so pathetically."

Shadow felt his heart pounding. "WHAT? But... does that mean that I'm..."

Apocalypse nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. We implanted the two vessels there, one more secretly than the last, left an S.O.S and a false tape and diary for the military, gave you false memories and then left. It wasn't at all difficult to catch Gerald's grandson's attention with that, now was it, Ivo."

Robotnik's finger was hovering about half an inch over the trigger finger for his Vulcan cannon. "You... killed my grandfather!"

Apocalypse nodded. "Yes... the two vessels were vessels number 12321 and 12322... code named Shadow and the Biolizard. Unfortunately, we were only able to collect power from one of them... so far."

Shadow staggered as Chaos had. "You... all my memories, all that suffering, all the pain... you created it all just to fuel a thirst for power within me!"

Inuyasha growled and raised his sword. "I've heard enough! DIE!" He swung down on Apocalypse, but it passed right through him. Apocalypse laughed. "You don't think I was stupid enough to risk showing up in my real form, do you? This is nothing but a hologram."

Sango tilted her head. "A holo... what."

Omega bleeped a few times. "Hologram: An extremely realistic projection of a person, place, or thing."

Apocalypse nodded. "I am afraid that I cannot stay any longer. You see, my dinner is growing cold and your world is set to be destroyed in... one week anyway."

Kagome shot out her hand. "Wait! Nothing like this happened in my time! Why now?"

Apocalypse chuckled. "Ah, you are from the future... my theory is that, since you awakened Inuyasha, you drew Naraku out of hiding. He would have kept on living in secrecy had you not shown up. Thank you, Kagome, from the bottom of my stony heart." His laughter could still be heard as the hologram faded out of existence.

Kagome suddenly felt very cold. "It's all my fault then... this whole thing was always my fault."

Inuyasha turned to her. "Kagome, no it's not..." he reached out to her, but she pulled away. "Stay away from me! I'll only end up killing you!" She turned and ran, tears glistening in her eyes.

Inuyasha made as if to run after her, but Miroku put a firm hand on his shoulder. "Now is not the time. Let her come to terms with this on her own time... we need to regroup and figure out what to do now."

Shadow and Chaos looked at each other and nodded. "We first need to go back to the village... I think it would be safest there anyway."

Inuyasha nodded. "You guys go on, I'll go get Kagome."

Chaos sighed deeply. "I'm really... just a lifeless being..."

Tikal shook her head. "Chaos, please, don't think like that. You are you, no matter what he says or how you were born. Please, don't think like that."

Shadow looked up at the sky. "All my suffering... for nothing... I'm going to kill him for this. He will pay for using me like that!"

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

DUN DUN DUN! And so the curtain closes at the most suspenseful moment! Please read and review and tell me what you think about the little plot twist! BTW, I apologize for the horrid fight scene between Inuyasha and Naraku, but I wanted it to be easy...


	21. Well, ain't this a bitch?

1Yes, I'm here and well. I've been grounded for a month, so that is why you have seen very little productivity from me. I promise, I shall work hard to try and make up for this, but it shall take time, so please be patient and I'll start of with one I have neglected for too long.

_**Chapter 21: Well, ain't this a bitch?**_

Kagome didn't care where she was headed, all she knew was that she was to blame for the destruction of her home. She had no desire to return to her time now. Because Naraku had been defeated, this would was probably already dead in the future. It was all because of her. She collapsed, ironically, right next to the god tree. She sobbed loudly next to the ancient oak where her adventure with Inuyasha had truly started. She cried unceasingly, thinking back to the start of their quest, the good and bad times filtered through her mind as if the memories had just been made seconds ago.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up, trying to choke her sobs as she saw Inuyasha staring at her. "I-Inuyasha... what are you doing here?" she asked softly.

Inuyasha frowned and kneeled beside her. "You run off and just expect me to forget it and leave you be? Kagome, you're sad..."

Kagome nodded and looked away. "Of course I'm sad, Inuyasha! I was the one who insured the fate of this world. I sentenced it to death."

Inuyasha shook his head and took her up in his arms, gently carrying her back towards the village. "Kagome, that doesn't matter. If we hadn't defeated Naraku, who's to say that this world and the future would be any better off than it is now?" he asked gently. "We didn't know that this... Ragnarok corporation even existed until a few minutes ago. We'll find a way to stop them, Kagome. We can't allow this to stop us."

Kagome wanted to doubt his words, wanted to say that there was no hope, but she found herself unable to. Here in his arms, nothing else seemed to matter, she felt like she could accomplish anything. "Yes... you're right, Inuyasha. I'm sorry about all this."

Inuyasha smirked. "Save it, Kagome. No more apologies. Only action."

Kagome nodded. "Alright, let's go then."

**ELSEWHERE**

Shadow stared over the lake outside the village, eyeing the trees on the other sides. It had all been a lie. His memories, his ambitions, his very existence had been a lie. He was a tool, an invention with no use beyond collecting power and sending it back to those who created him, my they rot in hell. He spat out into the lake, his fists clenching. "Damn them all."

Shadow heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Chaos approaching. Chaos stepped up next to him, but didn't look his way. "Are you saddened by what you learned?" he asked, crossing his arms.

Shadow sighed a bit and looked back at the lake. "Of course I am. I spent several years trying to find out exactly what I was, but... now that I finally know I'm nothing but a vessel... it hurts..."

Chaos shook his head. "Don't take their words to heart. We are what we choose to be, Shadow. That is why we are here, still alive today. We are strong, we have broken free of the principals they programmed into us."

Shadow frowned. "But... were weren't made this way, Chaos. We were made for them, to be their own personal capsules."

Chaos sighed. "What's your point? So we were created that way, that does not mean that we have to live the rest of our lives that way." He looked up towards the sky. "We will find and destroy this Ragnarok place and we will destroy them utterly. Then, no creature will suffer the cruel fate of being created for the soul purpose of dying."

Shadow followed his gaze to the sky and clenched his fists. "You're right, Chaos. Apocalypse will rue the day he conceived me in that twisted head of his... this I swear."

Chaos nodded and pointed opposite to the lake. "However, the fact remains that we still have no idea how to get to Ragnarok. They proclaimed our doom a week from now, but we don't know where they are located either. This poses a problem to our cause."

Shadow nodded. "I know... but we have time... one week. I am sure we'll find some way to reach them."

Chaos nodded in agreement and turned back to the village. "I'm going back to the village. Are you coming or will you be staying here?"

Shadow shrugged a bit. "I think I'll stay here a little while longer, actually. This place is... very tranquil compared to the chaos that will ensue from us trying to figure a way to get to Ragnarok... no offense meant of course."

Chaos chuckled. "None taken, rest assured." He started to walk back towards the village.

Shadow looked down at his reflection in the water. He smirked at his own reflection. "Heh, never thought I'd be happy to see that face in this lifetime..."

**IN THE VILLAGE**

Eggman furiously crumpled another piece of paper and threw it across the room, growling a bit. "No, that won't work either!"

Tails sighed gently and looked up at his new partner in this. "Exactly what was wrong with that plan?"

Robotnik looked down at the fox and crossed his arms. "Although that type of metal is in vast supply in this time period, it wouldn't stand against the pressure of space and the heat of the atmosphere. He sighed and held his head, grabbing a fresh sheet of paper. "Let's face it, even with the chaos emeralds and master emerald as a power source, with this level of technology at our disposal, it will almost be impossible to construct a vehicle with the capacity to get us into space."

Kagome looked up at the two geniuses. "What makes you so sure that they'll be in space?" she asked.

Tails stood up and brushed off his legs, closed his eyes, and crossed his arms. "He contacted us with a hologram. Unless there is a machine nearby to project the hologram, which there wasn't, then the hologram would need to be projected live from a distance minimum of about 300 light years from the planet. Holograms, no matter how advanced the technology, cannot travel through the space-time continuum."

Kagome nodded, understanding what he was saying since she had taken some study of space in school, but Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha, and Shippo all gave them blank stares. Eggman sighed. "It's simple science, my friends."

Knuckles and Rouge walked into the room, Rough wiping the sweat from her brow and Knuckles ignoring the sweat that dripped from his own fur. "Well, we've managed to construct a semi-convincing shrine for the chaos emeralds and master emerald."

Rouge nodded gently. "It should allow us to keep closer watch on them while we're assessing this situation."

Cream was sitting in the corner, humming to herself with Cheese, Shippo, and Kilala. They were playing a small game of Jacks that Kagome had brought over from her time. The four of them seemed so carefree, despite the current situation.

Sango watched them with slight admiration. "Where did our innocence go to?" she asked wistfully.

Miroku shrugged. "Who knows, Sango... then again, we have each other to be thankful for, so I guess leaving our innocence behind wasn't such a bad thing."

Chaos walked in, followed by Tikal, who looked rather concerned for him, though he looked fine. "Chaos, are you sure you're alright? I mean, after what Apocalypse said..."

Chaos nodded and turned to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I am fine, rest assured... as is Shadow." He chuckled a bit. "Nothing is wrong. We'll figure something out eventually."

Tikal smiled and nodded. "You're right..." She looked around at those present. "Has anyone seen Sonic, Big, or the chaotix?"

Tails looked up from his paper. "I think that the Chaotix took Kanna and Kohaku out to the forest for some sort of scouring trip. Big is fishing in the river with Froggy, and Sonic is in the woods with Amy, getting firewood."

Tikal nodded a bit. "I hope everything works out alright... this has everyone a little shaken up, I think."

They all had to agree.

**IN THE FOREST**

Espio examined the ground around them, scanning it hard. Kohaku yawned and stretched hard, looking around as well. "Exactly what is it that we're looking for?"

Vector looked up at the boy. "Ore deposits. Eggman and Tails say that the Ragnarok headquarters is located in space somewhere, so they're gonna need metal to make something to get us up there. We're gonna find the metal."

Kanna tilted her head. "But all we're doing is looking at the ground."

Charmy yawned a bit. "It's boring." He complained.

Espio didn't take his eye off of the spot he had fixated it on. "Here... there is ore... a lot of it."

Kohaku frowned and stared at the patch of ground. It looked just like the rest of the ground around him. "What? How are you so certain?"

Espio pointed to the grass. "The grass here is a few inches taller than the rest. Untempered ore possesses several nutrients that help plants grow quicker if it's located near the surface." He picked a small blade of grass from the spot and chewed it thoughtfully. "It also gives the plants growing within this vicinity an interesting taste. Almost metallic, but not unpleasant."

Vector cracked his neck a bit and nodded. "Alright, stand back!" he ordered. Espio did as he was told, crossing his arms. "Trust Espio, kid. He knows these things." He reached down with his large jaws and took a huge scoop out of the ground easily, depositing it to the side. In the hole he had dug was a very large deposit of metallic ore spreading in all directions.

Charmy did a back flip in air. "Yay! We found ore stuff! Let's grab it and get outta here!"

Kanna smiled a bit, looking over at Espio. "You certainly are adept at this, aren't you?"

Espio shrugged. "It isn't hard to find that which you are looking for if you have a good knowledge of where it can be found." He pointed to the ore. "Unfortunately, we didn't think to bring bags or buckets to haul this back with us, but that is probably the best. Let's take a sample back to Tails and Eggman and asked them if they can use this type of metal first. That way, all our physical labor will not be in vain."

His companions nodded and Kohaku carefully selected a fairly large chunk of the ore, taking it back with them as they headed back towards the village.

**ELSEWHERE IN THE FOREST**

Sonic sighed a bit as he and Amy walked through the seemingly endless trees in the vicinity of the village. "Boy, this is more serious than anything Eggman threw at us before."

Amy nodded in agreement. "I know... I'm not sure if I'm up to something like this."

Sonic looked over at her and smirked. "You'll manage, Amy. You're strong. You don't give up easily. If I know nothing else, it is the fact that you don't give up easily. Trust me, I know from experience."

Amy giggled a bit and nodded. "I guess you would know best, wouldn't you?" She looked up through the trees. "Do you think that we'll really be able to stop this Ragnarok thing?"

Sonic nodded gently. "I have no doubt in my mind, Amy. We've managed through everything else up to this point, haven't we?"

Amy nodded. "Yeah, but that was in our own world, wasn't it?"

Sonic shrugged. "What makes this world so much more different from ours? It's another world that needs our help, so we need to give them help."

Amy nodded again. "Right, let's go back to the village and see if anyone else has come up with anything... before we can do anything about Ragnarok, we need to get to them, right?"

Sonic nodded. "All too true. Let's go." They both turned and started walking back to the village, the path now familiar to them.

**NEAR THE RIVER**

Big reeled in his fishing line for the fourteenth time. "Looks like nothing's biting, Froggy."

Froggy hopped up and down on the large cat's head. He seemed to agree with Big's sentiment. Still, Big cast out again, not really one to give up. Even if they didn't bite, it was still very relaxing to cast out a line and just let it sit there, bobbing in the water.

He heard something clank up next to him and turned his head a bit to see Omega standing there. "Hi! You wanna fish with me?"

Omega looked down at big and shook his robotic head. "Negative. I am here to simply observe and calculate what we should do about the situation."

Big chuckled a bit and started to reel his line in again. "I'm not worried." He told Omega. "We're gonna stop the bad guys before they blow everything up."

Omega looked down at the cat as he reeled the line in fully. "Our means of victory at this point are calculated at 3,523,586 to 1."

Big stood up, slinging his fishing line over his shoulder. "But that is all we'll need, even though I don't know what that means." He started to walk off. "Come on, Froggy, let's go find a better fishing spot."

Omega watched the two as they walked off. "Observations concluded. Final thesis statement: ignorance truly is bliss."

**END CHAPTER**

Hoo boy, I've been out of the game for a while, so I'm not sure how well you'll all find this chapter... if you enjoy it, just let me know and I'll update again soon.


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